Actor Randeep Hooda wants an equal status for all the farmers, irrespective of their caste. By Angela Paljor
The last time actor Randeep Hooda was in the news was because of his Facebook posts, be it on a Kargil martyr’s daughter, Gurmehar Kaur, and her views on war and peace or the Jat agitation for quotas in Haryana. Not known to mince words, Hooda is pretty vocal about contemporary issues on the social media and has deftly handled the backlash. He doesn’t mind propagating his thread of rational thought as he is busy promoting a documentary by Kuldeep Rujhil, Cheer Haran, based on last year’s protests over quota.
Analysing the plight of Jats, the actor says, “People are on the social media just to be offended. It is necessary to remember that if something happens in a faraway corner of the country because of vested interests of some people, that doesn’t mean that the community or the religion of that particular people is wrong.” He feels while social media has given voice to people who were earlier subjugated by harassment and oppression, it has also been used to strengthen stereotypes and create disturbances. “One has to be diligent enough so that if there is negativity somewhere, you don’t need to bring that into your environment. The point is to keep your own environment positive. look around you, are all the people bad and aggressiveIJ ” he asks.
He feels there is a reason for hardening of positions, especially on social media. Hooda says, “We segregate everything into black and white. However, there is a need to highlight the grey areas. During the 2016 riots, Jats were victimised for various personal and political reasons. Wealth can be retrieved but not the loss of human lives.”
While the documentary exposes the horror of what people went through during the riots, it does not answer the question if Jats deserve OBC status. Hooda takes a clear stand on this: “Reservation should be based on economic status and not on caste. I am a Jat but I do not need reservation. However, the popular notion that all Jats are well off is wrong. If the bases of reservation are not changed, then the Jat farmers equally deserve reservation. The state of farmers in India is the same and all need support from the government.”
Hooda detests mob violence. Asked about the recent incident where a teenager was attacked and killed on a local train after being allegedly called a “beef-eater”, Hooda says, “I detest any kind of violence. India is a democracy where we can sit and talk to people and can have a different point of view. If somebody has another point of view, it should be respected whether it’s right, left or centre. Mob violence is wrong and the perpetrators should be definitely punished. It’s not necessary that everything should be coloured with regard to a specific community. I am aware that the two sides clashed over seats. The rest could be out of personal grudge or anything for that matter.”
Talking about the growing atmosphere of divisiveness in the country, Hooda clarifies, “It is the immediate environment that people should be concerned with and not get affected by what they hear. I live in a predominantly Muslim area and I get along fine with them. I can’t let a certain incident to influence my personal bonding with people. I can’t have prejudices just because some incident happened.”
Earlier, Hooda had said that though Jats are self-respecting and affluent people, farming as a profession did not suffice for them anymore. “Jats also have a peculiar problem, because they are not a community who by tradition can learn trade. They are not inclined to business. Of course, there are exceptions to this. But at the grassroot level, this is a socio-cultural issue with Jats. The thought process limits their options even further,” he had said then.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar
