Lyricist Javed Akhtar took to social media to point out that BJP’s slogan in Uttar Pradesh uses three Urdu words ‘Imaandar’, ‘Kaam,’ and ‘Damdar’ which translate to 'honest', 'work', and 'powerful'. “Nice to see that the slogan of UP BJP “ soch imaandar kaaam dumdaar “ has out of four three urdu words imaandar , kaam and Damdar,” Akhtar tweeted.
At the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, Javed Akhtar spoke about how the freedom of expression among artistes is ‘shrinking’ in India.
Times of India quoted Akhtar saying, in Hindi, “Just like the Parliament and the state assemblies are important in a democratic setup, so is the freedom of expression of writers and authors. Unfortunately, that freedom of expression for them is shrinking.”Actor Swara Bhasker had also commented on the resistance artistes face nowadays in telling stories, during an interaction with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
“Unfortunately, that it not happening. The writer’s pen trembles while writing about the plight of the common people and their woes. There is some kind of fearfulness that has crept among them. At present, there is darkness which was never felt before."Javed Akhtar, Poet and Lyricist
Actor Swara Bhasker had also commented on the resistance artistes face nowadays in telling stories, during an interaction with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Swara told Banerjee, "There are many young people who have risked their careers, their livelihoods to keep resistance alive in their own small ways." She then introduced comedian Munawar Faruqui who is frequently targeted by right wing groups.
"We also have Richa Chadha and others here who are from the film industry. We are facing a lot of resistance to tell stories. We are in a situation today where, for a common citizen like me, on one side there is the mob that's completely unaccountable because the ruling dispensation has found a way to use the mob to its liking and the police and state seem to be fine with it," Swara said, adding, "On the other side you have a state that uses arbitrary power and is distributing UAPA and sedition charges as a prasad from a God we don’t want to pray to but are forced to bow down to. This is our reality."
It is important to remember that the clothing brand Fabindia was subjected to flak during Diwali after one of their advertisements featured the phrase ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’. The Fabindia ad read, “As we welcome the festival of love and light, Jashn-e-Riwaaz by Fabindia is a collection that beautifully plays homage to Indian culture.”
BJP MP Tejaswi Surya had called the ad a “deliberate attempt of abrahamisation of Hindu festivals” and also claimed that the models weren’t in “traditional Hindu attires.” Many from the right wing had accused the brand of ‘islamification’ of Hindu culture with some even outraging over the fact that the models weren’t wearing bindis.
Fabindia later deleted the ad and also clarified that the ‘Jashn-E-Riwaaz’ wasn’t its Diwali clothing collection, NDTV had reported.
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