Paresh Rawal takes a dig at Naseeruddin Shah over 'freedom of speech' video

On January 4, Shah had triggered a row by claiming in a video that “those who demand rights are locked away”.

MUMBAI: Actor and BJP MP Paresh Rawal on Tuesday expressed his disagreement over actor Naseeruddin Shah's recent comment on freedom of speech in India, saying if Shah is expressing his views freely in India it means there is complete freedom of speech in the country.

"I don’t want to react to a particular statement. But it’s not right to say that India is not worth living in. I don’t agree. Incidents keep happening, but it is not right to generalise it," Paresh Rawal told ANI.

BJP MP Paresh Rawal on Naseeruddin Shah's statement that it's unsafe to live in India: I don’t want to react to a particular statement. But it’s not right to say that India is not worth living in. I don’t agree. Incidents keep happening, but it is not right to generalise it. pic.twitter.com/VMxrOFkmLb — ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2019

On January 4, the critically-acclaimed actor had triggered a row by claiming in a video that “those who demand rights are locked away”, adding that “artists, actors, scholars and poets are stifled”. He further said, “Journalists too are being silenced”.

Naseeruddin also alleged that walls of hate are being constructed in the country and innocent people are being killed in the name of religion. He said that those who stand against “this injustice have their office raided and licence cancelled”.

“Is this where our Constitution in headed? Had we dreamt of a country where there is no space for dissent,” asks Shah in the video. “Where there was once law, there is now only darkness,” he added.

The actor had posted the video just days after he made a reference to the recent communal clashes in Bulandshahr, saying the government was giving more importance to the death of a cow than a police official.

Shah had said that he was worried about his children, considering the prevailing situation in the country.

“I feel worried thinking about my children because they have not received any religious education. We chose not to give any religious education to our children because I believe that good or evil has nothing to do with religion,” he had said.