Mumbai: Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah questioned the hatred against him after being snubbed at a university event in Mumbai, which he was eagerly looking forward to, at the last moment.
Shah was invited to ‘Jashn-e-Urdu’, an event organised by the Urdu department at Mumbai University on February 1.
However, on the night of January 31, the university informed the veteran that he need not attend, and did not give any explanation.
The three-time National award-winning actor further shared that to make the situation more painful and embarrassing, the university announced to the audience that he had refused to attend the event.
Expressing his displeasure over being ‘disinvited’ from the event, Shah wrote in a column in The Indian Express, “The university, after informing me that I needn’t attend (on the night of January 31, and giving no reason for it, forget an apology), obviously considered this not insulting enough. So they decided to rub a little salt in by announcing to the audience that I had refused to be there.”
Sha, who has over four decades of experience in the film industry, shared that he had always dreamt of mentoring the younger generation.
Towards the end, Shah wrote that he no longer feels like living in the country he had grown up in, or was taught to love.
Unhappy with the sudden disinvitation, Shah challenged the university officials to “produce one single statement” of his in which he had “run down” India.
In his piece, expressing a sharp contrast within India and the criticism he has faced over the past decades, Shah wrote, “Sure, I have never praised the self-proclaimed ‘Vishwaguru’. In fact, I have been critical of the way he conducts himself. His narcissism offends me, and I haven’t been impressed by a single thing he’s done in 10 years.”
“I have often lamented the lack of civic sense and consideration for others in our country. I have been vocal about several other issues because these are things that trouble people like me about the direction in which we seem to be headed,” he added.
The veteran further emphasised that “India is a place where student activists can be jailed for years without trial, while those convicted of rape or murder are often granted bail; where cow vigilantes operate with impunity, maiming and killing; where history is reshaped and textbooks rewritten; and where even scientific facts are being tampered with.”
Shah ended, questioning, “Just how long can this hatred be sustained?”
