It is without a doubt that the anti-CAA protests have been strengthened by the massive disinformation campaign that has been started by the opposition parties. The usual suspects from the Bollywood have also joined with the likes of Swara Bhasker, Richa Chaddha and Anurag Kashyap jumping at the opportunity to attack the Prime Minister. However, it is Farhan Akhtar who has resorted to fear-mongering, spreading fake news and distorting India’s map through his tweets.
Farhan Akhtar has been quite vocal about his opposition to Citizenship Amendment Bill but that in no way gives him the right to spread fake news and resort to fear-mongering on Twitter. Farhan recently posted a graphic on Twitter urging the people to come out and protest at August Kranti Maidan on the 19th.
https://twitter.com/FarOutAkhtar/status/1207143874138910720?s=19
Farhan Akhtar was so blinded by his hatred of PM Modi that he didn’t even care to check the depiction of the Indian map on the graphic. The map was distorted and it didn’t show parts of Ladakh and Pakistan occupied Kashmir as the map showed PoK as part of Pakistan. Expectedly, Social Media erupted and hit out at Akhtar for showing a distorted map of India which happens to be a punishable offence. Akhtar was forced to tweet his apology as he asked forgiveness for his oversight however, in Akhtar’s hollow apology he claimed that he stood by the text in the graphic.
Needless to say, even the text in the graphic was inaccurate. The poster shared by Akhtar spreads fake news about “Indian Muslims” being declared stateless due to CAA and NRC. It also falsely alleges that NRC-CAA will exclude transgenders, atheists, women, tribals and the landless. The graphic shared by Akhtar has the markings of ISI written all over it starting with the distorted map. The graphic claims that non-Muslims under the CAA will be automatically granted citizenship without documents and it will leave Indian Muslims without documentation in a lurch. On the contrary, CAA only ‘fast-tracks’ citizenship of non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Any Indian Hindu without documents under the NRC will face the same procedure as any Muslim under the NRC. Non-Muslims will not be getting any free pass in the proposed NRC exercise.
Akhtar’s graphic then resorts fear-mongering as thanks to the impending NRC, every person in India would need to prove through documentary evidence that they have a right to live in this country. However, Akhtar’s graphic also claims that “ID card and tax slips are not enough” is not enough to prove their citizenship. However, NRC is yet to be implemented and there is no official information available on which documents will be considered and which will not be.
A small sample of the information jihad that has been unleashed over #CAA_NRC. Look at how many levels they are blatantly lying in this widely circulated poster.
ISI stamp is all over it, beginning with that map of India.#IndiaSupportsCAA pic.twitter.com/M0CQlNVIpt— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) December 18, 2019
Farhan Akhtar through his graphic also insinuated that people will be required to have proof of their ancestry till 1971. He conveniently forgets to mention that this date was specifically for Assam as that is the date mentioned in the Assam Accord signed by Congress government. It does not apply to any other place. The NRC in Assam was also monitored by the Supreme Court.
Farhan Akhtar’s graphic is filled with such factually incorrect information which unmasks his nefarious agenda of fuelling the anti-CAA protests just for the sake of it. Akhtar was recently in the news again as he labelled a concerned citizen a ‘bigot’ who asked him to condemn the violence meted out by anti-CAA protesters. The same Akhtar who during the Karni Sena protests against Padmaavat dubbed those attacking a school bus as ‘terrorists’ has chosen to remain silent when scores of anti-CAA protestors attacked a school bus and the children were only saved because of the driver’s presence of mind. It doesn’t need to be spelt out explicitly over why Akhtar has chosen to remain silent as the anti-CAA protestors attacked a school bus.
It seems that humiliation runs in the Akhtar family as Javed Akhtar who was recently schooled by IPS officer Sandeep Mittal on Twitter also schooled Farhan on Twitter as he made him aware about the Indian Penal Code and how Farhan by sharing a distorted map has committed an offence under the IPC.
Farhan’s choice of condemning violence also remains selective as there a lot of factors which Mr Akhtar consider before condemning any sort of violence. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Farhan has maintained a tight lip when the mob in West Bengal burned down public properties and railways.
Finally, the graphic which Farhan shared originated back to a Twitter account going by the name of ‘Stand With Kashmir’. Unsurprisingly, the account is allegedly run by Pakistanis from the US & openly wished to break India by separating Kashmir from India this fuelling the speculations that the anti-CAA protests also have the blessings of anti-India groups.
Farhan’s colleagues like Sonakshi Sinha and Alia Bhatt have also raised their apprehensions against the CAA and supported the protestors. Evidently, to understand something like the Citizenship Amendment Act is much above their pay grade as Alia shared a photo of India’s Constitution without the word ‘secular’. This is nothing but a concerted and pre-planned protest which is being amplified through Bollywood celebrities looking to make a quick buck.
