'Priyanka Chopra's views on Kashmir is of an Indian'

Agencies
August 22, 2019

Kolkata, Aug 22: Eminent lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar has said being an Indian citizen, the views of actor Priyanka Chopra supporting the Centre's recent decision on Kashmir will "obviously be an Indian point of view".

Akhtar was commenting on a Pakistani minister's demand for the removal of Chopra as UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace, accusing her of supporting the Indian government's decision on Kashmir.

"If her comments have upset the Pakistani establishment, they can do whatever they wish," Akhtar told the reporters on the sidelines of a literary event here Wednesday night.

Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after India abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.

In a letter, addressed to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H Fore, Pakistan's Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari had said the Bollywood actor supports the Indian government's policies on Kashmir.

She further alleged that Chopra is in favour of a "nuclear war" between India and Pakistan.

"Ms Chopra has publicly endorsed this Indian government position and also supported the nuclear threat issued to Pakistan by the Indian Defence Minister. All this goes completely against the principles of peace and goodwill that Ms Chopra is supposed to uphold as an UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace," Mazari wrote in the letter.

Speaking about the actor, Akhtar said, "I know Priyanka Chopra personally. She is a cultured, decent and educated person and the fact remains she is an Indian.

"If there is some kind of a controversy and difference in point of view between an average Indian citizen (like Priyanka Chopra) and the Pakistani establishment, obviously her point of view will be an Indian point of view."

To another question, Akhtar said, while he is trolled almost every day on social media, "for the last two-three days there are lot of hate messages because I have made my comment and aired my point of view on Imran Khan's tweet and some people are upset with me."

He said when "religious bigots" of both communities abuse him, he is convinced that what he says is right.

"The day one of them will stop abusing me, I will wonder what is wrong with me," Akhtar commented.

He had recently tweeted, "Imraan saheb. I will be ungrateful if I dont show my gratitude for your concern about the Indian minorities. I cant imagine, if you care so much for others how compassionate n protective you must be towards the Hindus, Christians , Ahmadiyas, Mohajir n Blochs of your own country."

As his tweet invited a vicious attack on the micro-blogging site on Wednesday, Akhtar had replied, " ... I am a secular rationalist Nationalist proud Indian who is inconvenient to both Hindu and Muslim communalists."

Asked to comment on the present situation in the Kashmir Valley, Akhtar said, "I am not aware what is going on. As a matter of fact most of us don't know because there is hardly any information available. We are yet to get details.

"We know that there was some curfew, there were some restrictions, so on and so forth," he said.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Kochi, Jun 27: The Kerala government on Friday submitted an application in a local court requesting to stop the prosecution of ivory possession case against Malayalam film actor Mohanlal.

In the application for withdrawal of prosecution, the government has requested the court to stop the prosecution "immediately for the interest of justice".

''The legality of the possession of two elephant tusks by Mohanlal was accepted by the competent authority under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 by issuing him a certificate of ownership. The possession and custody of the elephant tusks thus become legal after the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) issued him the certificate," the state government said.

"Further conduct of the criminal trial may go against the good faith amongst the parties as far as the certificate of ownership issued to Mohanlal is concerned. One cannot go back from that ownership certificate and it was stopped from contradicting, deny or declare to be false the previous statement made by the actor in the court," it added.

"The government should not be allowed to revert from its promises in order to keep the faith of the people and in the interest of good governance," the government further said.

The case was registered by the forest department in 2012. The state government submitted the application in Kuruppampady Judicial Magistrate Court, which will hear the matter on July 24.

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News Network
April 16,2020

New Delhi, Apr 16: Actor Salman Khan on Thursday put out a sharp message to the "jokers" who were flouting government-imposed guidelines and venturing out during the ongoing lockdown, putting at risk countless lives to the deadly coronavirus.

In his characteristic 'Bhai' style, Salman also appealed to people to not attack doctors, nurses and police personnel who are in the frontline of the battle against COVID-19.

In a 10-minute hard hitting video shared on Instagram he begins with a "Hello, namaste, salaam, sasriyakaal, Kem Cho' in typical TV reality show 'Big Boss' style and goes on to say 'Zindagi ka Bigg Boss' has begun with the entire country staying in lockdown mode at home.
He said he had taken a two-day "chhutti" (leave) but "This corona, COVID-19 has given everyone a 'chutti'."

Khan said he was staying at his farmhouse in Panvel near Mumbai with his family including his mother, two sisters their children and some other people who had come to visit.

In the video he said that he had sent a friend to get rations for the family from a village around five kilometres away. He recounted that the police stopped him and in the process, his friend took off the mask to speak to the policeman who reprimanded him and asked him to put the mask back on. Salman said that he too chided his friend for doing such a thing.

"Don't go out, don't do social gatherings, stay with your family, the government has said if you are doing namaaz, do it at home, do pooja at home..." the actor said, adding that those who had a wish to kill their families should step out.
"Go out get your ration, nobody is stopping you, go nearby but wear your masks, your gloves, go alone," the actor said underlining that the government has assured that everybody will get ration.

The actor said that whoever does not understand a coronavirus positive patient's pain is anti-human.

He pointed out that doctors, nurses and policemen are putting in long hours to curb the spread of coronavirus and urged people to respect their work and stay inside.

The actor said policemen would not have taken action and hit people if they followed guidelines and stayed inside. "If you weren't going out with friends, police wouldn't have hit you. Do you think police are enjoying it?," he asked.

"Doctors and nurses are working to save your lives and what do you do? You started pelting stones at them? Those who have been diagnosed with coronavirus, are running away from the hospitals. Where are you running? Towards life or death?," he questioned in his video.

The 'Dabangg 2' star appreciated the efforts by the frontline warriors and said, "the virus that started in China is over in China now, but because of a few jokers, the whole of India will sit at home for a long time."

The 54-year-old star said that he was aware of many people who wouldn't come out of their homes earlier but have started doing so since they've been asked to not go out.

"You are putting everyone's lives at risk," the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor said.

Salman concluded by urging people to respect the work of the doctors, nurses, police personnel and those who work in banks, take care to ensure that the disease does not spread further and pray that it does not come to a situation where the military has to be called in to stop people from doing the wrong thing.

Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri took to Twitter to shared the video message. "Very well said @BeingSalmanKhan I hope wisdom prevails everywhere," he tweeted.

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News Network
July 6,2020

Mumbai, Jul 6: Mumbai Police on Monday recorded the statement of filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.

The director arrived at Bandra Police Station on Monday morning to give his statement.

As per reports, late actor Sushant was approached by Bhansali for his 2013 film "Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela". However, Sushant could not take up the offer reportedly due to his contract with a production house. Later Ranveer Singh was signed for the role. The female lead was played by Deepika Padukone and the film turned out to be a commercial success.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Police has, over the past weeks, recorded statements of Sushant's family, staff, a few of his friends, and Rhea Chakraborty, besides filmmaker Mukesh Chhabra and actress Sanjana Sanghi who worked with the late actor in his upcoming last film "Dil Bechara".

Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging in his Mumbai residence on June 14. The actor's postmortem report stated his death was a suicide.

Within a few days of the actor's death, a complaint was filed by advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Bihar's Muzaffarpur. The case filed regarding the actor's death was against eight Bollywood personalities including Bhansali, Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra and Ekta Kapoor.

Mumbai Police is investigating the death of the actor, though many fans on social media have been demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case.

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