India’s fight against terrorism should be limited to isolating Pakistan. There’s no cause to drag the film industry into picture, writes Harish Venugopalan
Superstar Salman Khan’s comment on Pakistani actors that they are artists and not terrorists and that it is the Government which gives them permits and visas, has invited a lot of criticism. While some in the film fraternity backed his stand, others slammed him. A few like Nana Patekar derailed him. Others like Randeep Hooda and Ashoke Pandit came out in support of the ban on Pakistani artistes. The pillorying of Salman Khan was not restricted to Bollywood alone. Social media too has been near unanimous in condemning him for his irresponsible statements. A few voices, which includes noted director Mahesh Bhatt, veteran actor Om Puri and writer-director Nagesh Kukunoor, have supported him, but those voices have been drowned amidst the seas of censure against him. Apart from the condemnation, the usual ‘Salman Khan should move to Pakistan’ statements have been issued by the Shiv Sena and other organisations.
It is strange that when Parliament was attacked in 2001, there was no reaction from the Indian side. Even in 2008, when lashkar-e-Tayyeba terrorists attacked Mumbai, there was no response. Not even in January this year when the Pathankot airbase was attacked. What propelled a reaction was the Uri attack, which claimed the lives of 19 Army men. Getting back to Salman Khan, there seems to be near unanimity in the Indian media that the Pakistani artistes should be banned.
Talks about cultural boycott of Pakistan is reminiscent of the recent incident that took place at Rio Olympics when an Egyptian Judo player refused to shake hands with an Israeli opponent after a Judo match to express solidarity with the Palestine cause. In yet another incident, a lebanese delegation barred Israeli athletes from boarding their bus. lebanon and Israel are officially at war and have no diplomatic relations. In 2007, a Bahraini marathon runner lost his citizenship because he participated in an Israeli marathon. A neutral observer would call these attempts ridiculous and call upon these ‘patriots' to keep the Israeli-Palestinian conflict political and not bring it to areas like sports and films.
On the other hand, if Pakistan artistes feel that they should not make any statements on this issue, they have the right to do so. Is it fair for anyone to say that ‘no’, you have to make a political statement, then only you will be allowed to come to India and workIJ Tomorrow, if India and Pakistan were to play a cricket match, should we say that all Pakistani players should first make statements, individually, condemning the terrorist attacksIJ This is ridiculous.
About politicians like Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, who thrive on divisiveness, the less said the better. Raj Thackery went on to say, “Are we short of artistes in our countryIJ Why do we need Pakistan artistes to work in our filmsIJ Jawans are fighting for our borders. What will happen if they decide to put down their weaponsIJ” One fails to understand the underlying logic. Directors and producers are the people who have the right to decide whom to cast in their movies. No one, through casting of a Pakistan actor or an actor from any other country, is saying that Indian actors are bad. And why would our jawans put down their weapons just because an Indian producer casted a Pakistani actorIJ May be our political class harbours such narrow-mindedness, not our jawans.
Further, why don’t we talk about putting an end to the India-Pakistan bilateral trade which amounted to Rs206 billion during the last fiscal yearIJ Why are actors and sports men/women always at the receiving endIJ Is it because they are soft targetsIJ After all, a Raj Thackeray will not receive adequate publicity if he targets businessmen in India or Pakistan. He will get attention only by targeting famous personalities.
Efforts must be made to isolate Islamabad from the international community like it was forced to cancel the Saarc summit. Also, attempts by the US Senate to move a Bill to designate Pakistan as a terrorist state and the petition in UK Parliament to condemn Pakistan over terrorism, are not only important, but also essential. But spilling this issue to other areas like sports and the film industry should not be the way. Salman Khan deserves appreciation for speaking out against the move to oust Pakistan actors from India, but before an enlightened soul comes up with clenching fists, blazing eyes and roars, let the topic come to an end.
(The writer is a research assistant at the Observer Research Foundation)