Guess who Vajpayee turned to negotiate peace during Kargil war? Dilip Kumar!

September 8, 2015

Lahore, Sep 8: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee complained to Nawaz Sharif after the outbreak of the Kargil conflict that he had been shabbily treated and made the Pakistan premier speak with Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar who pleaded for controlling the situation, says a new book.

Dilip KumarNarrating a startling anecdote recounted to him by Saeed Mehdi, the ex-Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Sharif at the time of the Kargil War in May 1999, former foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri says, "According to Saeed, one day he was sitting with PM Sharif when the telephone bell rang and the ADC informed the PM that the Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee wished to speak with him urgently."

During their talks, Vajpayee expressed his grievances that he had been shabbily treated by Sharif after having been invited to Lahore, Kasuri writes in his book 'Neither a Hawk Nor a Dove'.

Sharif looked surprised at the words of Vajpayee, who complained that while he had been received in Lahore with such warmth, Pakistan had wasted no time in occupying Kargil.

Sharif said he was not aware of what Vajpayee was saying to him and promised to get back to him after talking to Chief of the Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf.

Before the conversation could end, Vajpayee told Sharif that he would like him to speak to somebody who was sitting next to him during their conversation, Kasuri writes.

Sharif was astonished when heard the voice of Dilip Kumar (Yousuf Khan originally from Peshawar), who said, "Mian Sahib, we did not expect this from you since you have always claimed to be a great supporter of peace between Pakistan and India", Kasuri writes in the book.

Let me tell you as an Indian Muslim that in case of tension between Pakistan and India, Indian Muslims become very insecure and they find it difficult to even leave their homes. Please do something to control this situation, Dilip, a recipient of Pakistan's highest civilian honour Nishan-e-Imtiaz, told Sharif.

Kasuri feels that he has made his point, "if even the great icon Dilip Kumar, as an Indian Muslim, felt insecure in case of tensions between India and Pakistan", it would not be hard to imagine the difficulties faced by ordinary Muslims in periods of tension between the two countries.

The former foreign minister says that he has seen first-hand that it is possible to have a meaningful peace process between the two countries and how quickly such a process could change the paradigm of relations between them.

He concludes with his conviction that peace is possible between two countries and that it would have a very positive impact on the status of minorities in both the countries.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 26,2020

Mumbai, Mar 25: Filmmakers and actors, including Karan Johar, Taapsee Pannu and Ayushmann Khurrana, have pledged their support to a new initiative aimed at supporting the daily wage-earners who have been severely affected by the lockdown imposed to combat coronavirus.
The country is witnessing a 21-day lockdown, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to contain the spread of the virus, which has claimed the lives of over 20,000 people globally.

The initiative, I Stand With Humanity, started by organisations -- the International Association for Human Values, the Art of Living Foundation and the Indian Film and TV Industry, will provide families of daily wage workers with 10 days of essential food supplies.

"I pledge to contribute and support this initiative! This is a situation that needs all our help, love, care and support," Karan posted on Twitter.

Taapsee said everyone must come forward to help the daily wage workers.

"This one for the daily wage workers. Because we need to do our bit for the ones who work with/for us. If not corona, lack of basic food might take them down. Let's help them to get through this," the actor wrote.

Ayushmann described the initiative as "truly noble".

"I vow to support this and contribute. India and Indians are under threat and each one of us have the power to make a difference. Let's support and care for each other as much as we can in this time of crisis. #Istandwithhumanity," he tweeted.

Kiara Advani and Rakul Preet Singh also pledged to contribute towards the initiative.

"Let's contribute! While some of us are safe at home, we can help those struggling right now... donate," Kiara said.

Rakul tweeted, "I support this noble initiative. Happy to contribute for this humanitarian cause. While staying safe at home, I urge every one else also to contribute online."

Actor Varun Sharma said, "I pledge to contribute & support this initiative #iStandWithHumanity"

"In times like these, we need to step up for the ones in need. I'm happy to contribute for this humanitarian cause. And guys whoever can help, you all can also contribute online," actor Sidharth Malhotra tweeted.

Filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari wrote, "There are a lot of daily wage earners who need our help during this tough time. Please help as much as you can. Here's the link to contribute online."

Actor Bhumi Pednekar said it was important to get together and help those who are "vulnerable and in need".

Actor Dia Mirza said, "We are in this together. YES we will help #DailyWageEarners get through this with hope and dignity. I am contributing to this effort and I hope many others in our fraternity will do as well."

Filmmakers Aanand L Rai and Sanjay Gupta have also backed the cause.

"One of the greatest gift a person can give another, is support. I whole heartily support this noble initiative. While staying safe at home, I urge every one else also to contribute online," Aanand tweeted.

Gupta called upon the public to help the daily wage-earners through the initiative.

On March 18, the Producers Guild of India had announced that they have set up a relief fund for daily wage-earners impacted by the shutdown of film, television and web productions amid coronavirus pandemic.

Their decision came after many filmmakers, including Sudhir Mishra, Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap, raised concerns over the impact of shutdown on the daily wage workers.

South star Pawan Kalyan announced on Twitter that he will donate Rs 1 crore to PM relief fund.

B N Tiwari, President of Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), however, claimed there has been no help from Bollywood personalities or the Producers Guild of India so far.

"In the South, Rajinikanth has donated Rs 50 lakh which is a great thing. But here, we haven't received any call or help from anyone from Bollywood yet."

"There is one production company called Frames that produces TV shows, they have given ration worth Rs 25 lakh but it is stuck at Navi Mumbai and we haven't been able to give that to workers as they can't come here. We are toying with the idea of taking help of police authorities to give the ration to the workers," Tiwari told news agency.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: On his 47th birthday on Thursday, actor Sonu Sood announced three lakh jobs for migrant labourers on the job portal 'Pravasi Rojgar' that he had launched earlier this month.

The 'Dabangg' actor who has launched several initiatives for helping migrant labourers of the country made the announcement about the additional three lakh jobs on his Instagram account.

Sood posted two flyers of the employment application and shared that the jobs came with additional benefits like PF and ESI.

"On my birthday a small initiative from my side...3 lakh jobs tied up for Pravasirojgar.com. All these will provide good wages, PF, ESI, and other benefits," he wrote in the caption.

He further went on to thank the organisations that had partnered with him for the initiative.
"Thank you AEPC, CITI, Trident, Quesscorp, Amazon, Sodex, Urban Co, Portea, and all others for creating these opportunities with me. #AbIndiaBanegaKamyaab @pravasirojgar," he wrote.

Hailed as the 'messiah' of migrant labourers, Sood has helped hundreds of thousands of migrants to reach their native places amid the coronavirus induced lockdown when many like them were walking back to their homes.

Besides labourers, he has also helped students and other people stranded in different parts of the country amid the lockdown. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 29,2020

New Delhi, May 29: Actor Pooja Hegde revealed that her Instagram account was hacked after unflattering memes about her colleague Samantha Ruth Prabhu were shared.

Samantha's angry fans are not buying her explanation and it has prompted a Twitter trend #PoojaMustApologizeSamantha.

On Monday night, Pooja put out a tweet that her Instagram had been hacked and was in the process of being retrieved. She urged her fans to not accept any invitations or pass out any personal information to the person asking.

She wrote, "Hi guys, so I've been informed by my team that my insta account has been hacked and my digital team is helping me with it. Please do not accept any invitations or pass out any personal information out to the person asking. Thank you."

An hour later, which she spent "stressing," the 'Mohenjodaro' star tweeted again to say the account was restored and that all activity in the while it had been hacked would be undone.

"Spent the last hour stressing about the safety of my Instagram account. Thanking my technical team for instant help at this hour. Finally, got my hands back on my Instagram Any message, follow back or post in d past hour from my account has been done will be undone. Ty," tweeted Hegde.

The 29-year-old actor announced that her feed has been cleaned up now. Her most recent Instagram post is now one on pet food that she posted three days ago.

In Pooja's tweets, there is no mention of Samantha.

According to the screenshots that are being circulated over social media, a meme of Samantha was posted from Pooja's account. It read, "I don't find her pretty at all."

This tweet has triggered Samantha's fans who have not been pacified by her explanation and are demanding that Pooja apologise, meanwhile Pooja's fans say she has nothing to apologise for.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.