Updated July 24th, 2019 at 12:54 IST
Aparna Sen stands by 49 celebs' intolerance letter to PM Modi, says "one or two may retract due to political pressure, it's real"
Aparna Sen is among the 49 celebrities who have written an intolerance letter to PM Modi
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Around 49 celebrities across all professions in the likes of Bollywood, theatres, historians, and painters have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming intolerance in the country under the rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the letter dated to 23rd July 2019, the group of artists stated that they are 'deeply concerned' about a number of tragic events that have been happening in the country in recent times.
The group has raised the recent spate of controversies over the chant 'Jai Shri Ram', over which there have been a number of flashpoints, particularly to do with West Bengal Mamata Banerjee who on one occasion stopped her convoy and raged at citizens who had issued the chants at her.
The letter dated July 23, 2019, also claims that 'Jai Sri Ram' has become a provocative 'war-cry', that has lead to many law and order problems in the country. Claiming that there is no democracy without dissent, the celebrities expressed that no certain individual should be branded as 'anti-national' or 'Urban Naxal' because of the dissent against the government.
Speaking to Republic TV, Aparna Sen, one of the signatories on the letter has said that "All the signatures are authentic. They all wanted to sign on. On or two may want to retract now under political pressure, but that will only go to show that political pressure is a reality!"
Prior to this, in an exclusive conversation, ace-filmmaker Anurag Kashyap confirmed the authenticity of the letter and stated that it was 'self-explanatory'.
The letter has been signed by celebrities in the likes of Anjan Dutt, Anurag Kashyap, Konkana Sen Sharma, Mani Ratnam, and many others.
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Published July 24th, 2019 at 12:35 IST