No, Bollywood Actors Aren’t Bound To Validate Your Political Opinions.

There was a huge protest going in around the country against the CAA and NRC last week. Thousands of people took to streets protesting against the two acts that deem certain Muslim people living in Assam illegal immigrants.

This move was taken by the BJP to supposedly curb the growing infiltration from Bangladesh. Its main job, however, was to take away voting rights of a large chunk of Muslims in the region. Pretty ballsy of them to think they could pull this off! But that’s what happens when you run the country without an opposition.

As happens with any big issue, Twitter becomes a cesspool of uninformed voices shouting at the top of their lungs. With people throwing accusations at each other it becomes more of a competition. So was the case with this protest as well. People, mostly those who were against the move, were calling out every famous person from Bollywood to voice their opinion, in their favour!

Shah Rukh, Salmaan, Amitabh, no one was spared. Calling them cowards became a norm and suddenly cyberbullying didn’t seem such a bad thing to do. With no regard to someone else’s decision to remain silent, individuals plagued with the disease of self-righteousness attacked people from Bollywood for not speaking out in their support.

CAB and NRC should be discussed carefully in a civilized way as these could be the deciding factors for a secular India, whichever direction we choose to take. Calling out people to support your cause will only divide us instead of uniting.

Empathy is an important pillar of a secular society, a pillar that is increasingly being weakened by this new found love for self-righteousness.