by Amir Tuteja
Los Angeles Shabana Azmi, the well-known movie actress, has been touring America, acting in a play, “Tumahari Amnita” inspired by A.R. Gumey’s “Love Letters,” On April 19, at a talk sponsored by Collation Against Communalism in Los Angeles, she told the audience of mostly Indian students; “Make secularism a sort of religion, and promote it with fervor to fight the well-oiled propaganda of religious zealots. The politicians are exploiting the religious sentiments of the masses in order to retain their seats of power, and the innocent people are paying the price with their lives. Religious fundamentalism on both sides was the root cause of many problems facing India and the state must be independent of religions.” Shabana Azmi continued: “Muslim fundamentalism and Sikh fundamentalism are viewed as antinational movements but being a Hindu fundamentalist is considered as nationalistic and is being accepted openly, Secular forces must fight all forms of fundamentalism.” In response to a question from the audience Azmi declared that she favors a single code of con duct for all Indian citizens. The actress evoked a round of applause when she said she was sympathetic to all those Hindus who had to leave Kashmir, “It is highly disgraceful to become are fuge in your own country and the Kashmir Hindus have become refugees just as many Muslims in Bombay have after the recent riots. Citing her own example, she declared: “I was not even born when Pakistan was formed; I was born in India, India is my county and nobody can take my nights away. “ Since her talk in California the “Sangh Parivar” zealots have been dogging her performances in other cities here, The Sangh Parivar is bugging her saying that she keeps on harping about the plight of Muslims in India, but has not said or done anything for the victims of the Bombay bombings.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 9, 1993
