Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has responded a day after he came forward to defend actor Diljit Dosanjh. His post on supporting the singer-actor’s decision to work with Pakistani actor Hania Aamir in Sardaar Ji 3 was no longer visible on his Facebook account. Naseeruddin has said that he does not ‘care’ about any backlash for his statement. (Also read: Naseeruddin Shah’s support for Diljit Dosanjh amid Sardaar Ji 3 controversy shows his ‘frustration’: Ashoke Pandit)
What Naseeruddin said
In his latest post, Naseeruddin wrote: “I have NOT deleted my post about Diljit Dosanjh. I dont care a fiddler’s fart for backlash.”
His previous statement
Naseeruddin had previously written in defence of Diljit, which read, “I STAND FIRMLY WITH DILJIT. The dirty tricks deptt of Jumla Party has been awaiting a chance to attack him. They think they’ve got it at last. He was not responsible for the casting of the film, the director was.”
He added, “But no one knows who he is whereas Diljit is known the world over, and he agreed to the cast because his mind is not poisoned. What these goons want is to put an end to personal interaction between the people of India and Pakistan. I have close relatives and some dear friends there and no one can stop me from meeting them or sending them love whenever I feel like it. And my response to those who will say “Go to Pakistan” is ‘GO TO KAILASA’.” The post is still not visible on his Facebook account.
However, he posted a quote by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg a day after. It read, “It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody’s beard. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and philosopher.”
In response for Naseeruddin’s support for Diljit, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit had called out the statement and responded to news agency ANI. He said, “We are not surprised, not shocked, by Naseeruddin Shah’s response to Diljit Dosanjh’s entire episode. He calls us the Jumla party, he calls us goons. The educated, versatile actor, senior person in the industry, calling us goons proves the frustration and kind of restlessness of Naseeruddin Shah.”
Over the last few days, Diljit has been facing flak for his latest film Sardaar Ji 3, including Pakistani actor Hania Aamir. The film opened overseas on June 27. It didn’t release in India.
The stir comes in the wake of the recent Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, followed by India’s Operation Sindoor on May 7, in which air strikes were carried out on terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
