Naseeruddin Shah’s Ajmer event cancelled over protests against his remarks

MUMBAI: Bollywood star Naseeruddin Shah, who voiced concerns about rapidly increasing  'mob violence' in India, is  facing  backlash  on social media.

In the letest development, the  event, where Indian film actor Naseeruddin Shah was invited to deliver the keynote address, has been cancelled by the organisers following protests by right-wing organisations on Friday afternoon.

The eminent actor was invited to deliver the keynote address of the fifth edition of Ajmer Literature Festival at 2:30 pm. He arrived in Ajmer around 11.30 am and spent an hour at his alma mater, St. Anselm’s Senior Secondary School.

The veteran actor had expressed anxiety over lynching in a video interview with Karwan-e-Mohabbat India.  Shah was concerned for his children because he imagines a situation where they may be surrounded by an angry extremists mob and asked: "Are you Hindu or Muslim?"

Referring to the recent violence sparked by the discovery of a cow death, in which a police officer was killed by a mob, he said India has already witnessed that the death of a cow has more significance today than that of a police officer.

After his remarks, the extremists  have created much agony for the veteran actor and he  is being called a traitor.

The Bollywood actor went on to say there is a "poison" that has spread in the Indian society. "It will be very difficult to capture this djinn [genie] back into the bottle."

 Shah had clarified that he made those comments as a ‘worried Indian’ and he has the right to express concerns.

The interview was posted on YouTube on Monday. In the interview, the actor expressed concern over the well-being of his children, who he said have not been brought up as followers of any particular religion.