Published 10:51 IST, December 20th 2019
Farhan Akhtar's reaction on CAA at Mumbai protest is now a meme; Smriti Irani reacts
Farhan Akhtar on Thursday was trolled for his reaction to nationwide anti-CAA protests. Union Minister Smriti Irani reacted on the video going viral on Twitter.
Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar on Thursday was seen at August Kranti Maidan, Mumbai, protesting against Citizenship Amendment Bill. While talking to the media there, Farhan was heard citing the protests against the new citizenship law as an indication of something being wrong with the act. "If you go into the details, it looks like there can be something in there... If everything was okay, why would so many people be concerned?" he said of the protests.
The answer came when the reporter asked the actor about the government's repeated assurances to each section of the society, with regard to the new law. Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani reacted on the meme going viral where Farhan's statement was compared to a scene from popular Bollywood film 'Bunty Aur Babli' in which protestors are clueless about their demands and reason for demonstration.
Whattay...... 🤦♀️ https://t.co/ixpIGGhXeC
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) December 19, 2019
Farhan also said, "As a citizen of the country and as somebody who was born and has grown up with a certain idea of India is, it is important for me to raise my voice... If everything was ok, why would so many people turn up? Not just in Mumbai, but Delhi, Assam, Bangalore, Hyderabad."
NETIZENS REACT
One user said, "#FarhanAkhtar He doesn’t know anything about CAA or why he is protesting." Payal Rohatgi also wrote on her Twitter handle, "राम राम जी #FarhanAkhtar जी के mobile पर Whatsapp active नहीं है क्यूँकि वो कोई भी information के बिना एक violent protest का हिस्सा हैं जो सामाजिक सम्पत्ति का नाश कर रहा है #PayalRohatgi"[sic]
#FarhanAkhtar was spotted y'day at protest against #CAA_NRC and when media asked him what are the points he did not like about #CABBill2019?
— Shivangi Thakur (@thakur_shivangi) December 20, 2019
He said, 'I don't want to discuss details here right now. Aap dekhe details me jake to lagta hai aisa kuch (discrimination) ho sakta hai.' pic.twitter.com/mgseNyPnvt
FARHAN'S APOLOGY AMID ANTI-CAA PROTEST
On Wednesday, Farhan took to Twitter to announce that he will be partaking in a protest to be held on Thursday at August Kranti Maidan. "See you on the 19th at August Kranti Maidan, Mumbai. The time to protest on social media alone is over," Farhan said. The actor also shared an image that sought to explain the ramifications of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizen (NRC). Soon after the post, many Twitter users pointed out a discrepancy in the map of India that the actor shared.
Farhan tweeted again with a statement, saying he does not endorse the map presented on the image, which he had reposted from somewhere and apologised for the oversight on his part. "I recently posted a message about a protest meeting on December 19th with a repost of a graphic about the meeting. While I stand by the text, I have only just noticed that the map of India on the graphic is inaccurate. Every inch and part of Kashmir is a part of India and I reject the inaccurate map. I regret not noticing this earlier. My sincerest apologies for the oversight," the actor said on a statement posted on Twitter.
(WITH AGENCY INPUTS)
Updated 12:21 IST, December 20th 2019