While several Bollywood celebrities Shabana Azmi, Konkana Sen Sharma, and Anurag Kashyap are voicing against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), actor Kangana Ranaut gave her take on the anti-CAA protest on Monday.
Ranaut expressed her view on the ongoing anti-CAA protest when she was asked during the unveiling of the trailer of her upcoming film ‘Panga’ in Mumbai on Monday.
The anti-CAA protest has also been opposed by Bollywood celebrities like Varun Grover, Sushant Singh and Jim Sarbh.
Also read: NE students, citizens’ groups protest against CAA in Delhi
A media report quoted Ranaut as saying when asked about the CAA protests: “When you are demonstrating, the first thing that is important is people don’t take to violence. In our country, only three to four per cent of people pay taxes.”
“Rest of them are actually dependent on them. So, who gives you the right to burn buses, trains and create ruckus in the country? That should be looked into because one bus costs a lot.”
“It’s not a small amount. And the condition of this country is such that there are so many who are dying of malnutrition, so it’s not correct for people to instigate violence using democracy as an excuse.”
“This is my personal opinion,” she added.
The anti-CAA protest has turned violent in many parts of India with the protestors torching government vehicles, government offices and other properties.
At the same time, many anti-CAA protestors have died in police firing.
In Assam, four anti-CAA protestors died of bullet injuries in Guwahati.
The anti-CAA protest, which originated in Assam, has spread to most of the parts of India.
The Indian students and NRIs have also raised their voice against the new citizenship law in America, United Kingdom and Germany.
The CAA, 2019 seeks to grant Indian citizenship to any person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, who entered into India on or before December 31, 2014.
The new law has been termed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as “fundamentally discriminatory”. The anti-CAA protestors have also termed it as “unconstitutional”.
However, Ranaut said, “We are still hanging on to pre-Independence era. During that time, going on strikes against people who had captured us and not paying taxes was really cool.”
“Isn’t it democracy if someone has gained power on the basis of what they wrote in the manifesto, and, today, they are fulfilling that? So, you can’t be a sore loser,” she added.
