India has always been an ideal for freedom of speech and expression. And who can take better advantage of it than the “Indian Film Industry”. The Bollywood giants have always exploited this very nature of Indian society. Various Bollywood personalities are known for sharing their unsolicited opinions. From Swara Bhaskar to the Khans, the list is non-ending. The recent addition to the list is hypocritical Farhan Akhtar. Akhtar has also attempted the same with his tweet on the ongoing Nupur Sharma row.
Farhan Akhtar in politics
On 5 June, Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar tweeted a derogatory statement on the recent controversial issue involving Nupur Sharma, the BJP spokesperson. Making what seemed to be a sarcastic remark, he tweeted, “A forced apology is never from heart.” Through this, he wanted to convey that Nupur Sharma was guilty of blasphemy. And her apology doesn’t stem from deep conviction about her supposed guilt.
A forced apology is never from the heart.
— Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) June 5, 2022
What was the issue revolving around Nupur Sharma?
His remarks came after Nupur Sharma apologized for her controversial statements. The controversy started when BJP spokesperson, Sharma, made a remark about Prophet Muhammed in a televised debate. Sharma was later suspended from the party.
The BJP further reacted by suspending her from the party for her statements. The saffron party clarified its stance by saying, “The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion. The Bharatiya Janata Party is also against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy. During the thousands of years of the history of India, every religion has blossomed and flourished. The Bharatiya Janata Party respects all religions.”
After this complete showdown about blasphemy, Farhan Akhtar along with other popular film actors took to Twitter to share their opinions. This unnecessary creation of controversies is not new to the Bollywood industry. It has often been a strategy of film actors to grab attraction and achieve some sensational magnetism from the audience.
Read more: Blasphemy: An open license to kill non-Muslims in Pakistan
History of Farhan Akhtar in blasphemy
Farhan Akhtar has been under this kind of controversy in past as well. During the Charlie Hebdo case also, he took to Twitter saying, “I stand with Charlie Hebdo in solidarity of their freedom to satire & critique anything & anyone. Don’t like it. Don’t read it.”
I stand with Charlie Hebdo in solidarity of their freedom to satire & critique anything & anyone. Don't like it. Don't read it.
— Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) January 8, 2015
On 7 January 2015, the two Kouachi brothers stormed the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo in the Rue Nicolas-Appert before opening fire on its staff and murdering 11 people including five of the same magazine’s cartoonists. This massacre had earlier caused a deep mark while firing global debates on free speech and blasphemy.
Farhan Akhtar has once again come into the limelight in the war of words. This has caused a wrangled scenario in the film industry giving a sharp edge to his carrier. But these alleged statements are nonessential as nobody claimed for their so-called “prestigious” remarks. This is just exacerbating the current controversy and further scaling the twitter storage.
Bollywood actors are less equipped with their new projects and thus stating needless remarks about Indian politics. India already has many scholars to guide the path of morality. It doesn’t need actors turned guide for teaching the principle of morality.