This past Friday, a suicide bomber attacked Indian soldiers in the town of Pulwama in Indian Occupied Kashmir. The Indian government lays blame on Pakistan for the attack and has since caused tension between the two countries to reach new heights. A lot of Indians have been calling for revenge and even an all-out attack on Pakistan. Among those people has been ‘Queen’ actress, Kangana Ranaut.
While Kangana has been spewing hate, Akshay Kumar has been the voice of reason.
In a video that has been circulating on social media over this weekend, Akshay is seen responding to a journalist’s question about his views on Pakistan being a terrorist state. The actor responds by saying that terrorism does not have a ‘country’, it is the actions of a few individuals that causes terrorism. To quote him directly, “kuch log terrorism karte hai, country terrorism nahin karta.”
Reporter : Jab terrorism ki baat aati hai tab Pakistan ka naam aata hai. Deshbhakt Kumar (Twin Brother of Navjot Singh Sidhu) : Bilkul nahi! aisa kuch bhi nahi hai isme! Terrorism ki koi country nahi hoti! Terrorism toh India,USA, Australia,Peshawar me bhi hai! pic.twitter.com/ZMab5aVO66
— Fake Deshbhakt (@iFlopKhiladi) February 17, 2019
Basically.
Indians called for a boycott of Akshay Kumar.
We should boycott canadian akshay Kumar's movie jab tak wo iss statement k liye apologize na karre… : terrorism india mei bhi h #PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/sVMaa3qWjN
— #FAN (@Sarcastic__Raj) February 18, 2019
Boycott @akshaykumar'S movies. He thinks India is a terrorist nation. #PulwamaAttack https://t.co/Ov6ntqVhXL
— vinay (@M4Messii) February 18, 2019
Others said this was a PR-stunt.
Sidhu has been under attack for his pro-Pakistan statement, and people want to drag Akshay Kumar too.
There was no lack of gaaliyan.
People just really wanted him to say that Pakistan is a terrorist state.
In the midst of all the hating, there was some doubt thrown on the video itself.
This got us thinking, and we did some digging. Turns out this video is from January 2015 for Akshay’s movie ‘Baby’ (which by the way, Pakistani actor, Mikaal Zulfikar acted in too).
This realization among people online opened up a whole new discussion about context, calling into question all that Akshay said.
According to one Twitter user, Akshay was asked about his film ‘Baby’ and its relation to terrorism and terrorism in Pakistan.
Akshay was also called a hypocrite.
While all this was going on, Pakistanis, in general, are very happy with his statement.
Another sane Indian who has refused to buy Narendra Modi's narrative.
Very Good pic.twitter.com/rvTz4UhrVf— Ali Raza (@AliRazaTweets) February 17, 2019
However, it seems as though Indian sentiment regarding the actor is about to change. The hot news this morning was that Akshay Kumar is donating 5 Crore Indian Rupees to the families of the martyred.
@akshaykumar contributes a whopping Rs. 5 crores to families of the martyrs.#Big heart of #AkshayKumar. Like this #Bollywood #celebrity from #India. #Great decision.https://t.co/fK7oaGrqR7
— Nayeem Billah (@nayeem_billah) February 18, 2019
In more recent years, the fight between India and Pakistan has gone beyond just politics and governments- celebrities have become part of the fight. Their making statements and these statements clearly affect people and their perceptions of the situation. Art, film, and music need to be free-flowing, not constrained by politics but the past few instances of tension between India and Pakistan prove otherwise.
What happened in Pulwama is beyond tragic and condemnable, however, the war of words and the calls of destruction following it are getting out of hand now.
How much longer will we fight for?
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Cover Photo Courtesy: inuth.com and Twitter