Quite recently, actor Naseeruddin Shah took the nation by a storm when he cried intolerance in the wake of the Bulandshahr incident. He was apparently concerned for his children, who would have to face the wrath of ‘such mobs’. To top it all, he even took a sly dig at the people protesting illegal cow smuggling, asking if the ‘life of a cow is more important than a man’s life.’
No wonder he was trolled left, right and center for his atrocious comments throughout social media. Even the BJP leaders in Maharashtra criticized his approach, with MP Prahlad Joshi even labeling his rants as a ‘publicity stunt’, and rightly so.
However, what surprised many was the stance of his own cousin, Rizwan Ahmed, who happens to be a lawyer by profession. Not only did he support the protesters, but he also went hammer and tongs after Naseeruddin Shah, criticizing him for his hypocritical approach.
My brother Naseer was not afraid in 1992 riots, says Rizwan Ahmed, Lawyer & First Cousin of Shah #NaseeruddinGussaHai pic.twitter.com/XM7IH2EyfG
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 20, 2018
Rizwan Ahmed was a part of the debate show ‘India Upfront’ on Times Now, conducted by Rahul Shivashankar. When Rizwan was asked to put forward on his views, he went on attack mode right from the start.
To quote him, “My dear friend, allow me to be stone cold, be it Naseer or be it any intellectual or be it any clergy, they have nothing to do with the common Muslim. Be it the Muslim clergy or be it the Muslim intellectuals, they are a bunch of selfish, thankless chest beaters, and they remain chest beaters until they are pampered by the political dispensation, be it in Australia, be it in America or be it in India.”
For those unaware, Naseeruddin Shah, who had earlier invoked the ire of cricketing fans by insulting Virat Kohli, attempted to play victim card by saying that he is afraid of today’s India, and his children might not be able to face the wrath of the mobs. However, Mr. Rizwan Ahmed didn’t stop at that. He further accused Naseeruddin of being a hypocrite as he wasn’t afraid in instances which were much more devastating than the ones Naseer mentioned.
To quote him, “My brother Naseer, he was not afraid, he was not afraid and annoyed in 1992 riots, nor in 1993 bomb blasts. He was not afraid and annoyed on 26/11 that occurred in 2008, nor was he afraid in 2012, when 2 lakh Islamic radicals created riots on the streets of Mumbai, desecrating the Amar Jyoti killing 2 people. Why he was not annoyed when 5 lakh Kashmiri Pandits were chucked out of their homeland?”
As he concluded his attack, he also explained the reason why such people were attacking Modi. He added, “The only reason is the pampering. Till the Modi government is not pampering my intellectuals [attacking the left liberals here], my journalists, my clergy, we will continue to demean India in the eyes of the world.” When two panelists attempted to interrupt him, Rahul Shivashankar shot back, saying that Rizwan should be allowed to finish his statement.
To be frank, none expected someone on the lines of Syed Rizwan Ahmed to strike back with such vengeance against the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, who are hellbent on creating a paranoia out of nothing, in order to mislead the masses in the same way as they mislead the masses of Delhi and Bihar in 2015 with the vicious campaign of ‘Intolerance’. As such, we applaud Mr. Syed Rizwan Ahmed for his bold stance on the issue and hope that more people like him continue to demolish the web of lies as peddled by people like Naseeruddin Shah and his fellow left-liberals.