BeyondHeadlines News Desk
Bollywood, a hub of culturally and ethnically diverse talents, believes in inclusiveness and diversity. A group of about 50 directors, filmmakers and writers came forward appealing Indian voters to vote for the ‘secular party’ without naming any political party.
As the latest elections becoming fiercer with passing of time due to contest among three strong political faces represented by different ideals and values, this appeal could have potential impact considering fan following of film-personalities in the country of over one billion population.
The letter, endorsed by noted directors including Nandita Das, Imtiaz Ali, Anand Patwardhan, Mahesh Bhatt and Zoya Akhtar, noted that the very sense of India is vulnerable. “The need of the hour is to protect our country’s secular foundation.”
“And, this has been possible only because Indian society has prided itself on being essentially secular in character, rejecting communal hatred, embracing tolerance,” the letter read. The letter did not mention whether it disfavors Modi or BJP.
While restating significance of corruption and governance issues, the undersigned highlighted that “India’s secular character is not negotiable! Not now, not ever.”
“As Indian citizens who love our motherland, we appeal to you to vote for the secular party, which is most likely to win in your constituency,” said the film-personalities in the letter, published by Mumbai Mirror.
Noted among the signatories of the letter were: Vishal Bhardwaj, Govind Nihalani, Saeed Mirza, Zoya Akhtar, Vijay Krishna Acharya (Dhoom 3), Kabir Khan (Ek Tha Tiger), Kundan Shah, Hansal Mehta (Shahid), Anjum Rajabali (Writer: Raajneeti, Satyagraha), Shubha Mudgal, Swara Bhaskar, Aditi Rao Hydari, Anil Mehta, Saket Chaudhary, Rakesh Sharma Vinay Shukla, Kamlesh Pandey, Robin Bhatt, Aneesh Pradhan, Sanjay Chhel, Sameer Anjan (Lyricist).
Others persons who signed the letter were: Imteyaz Husain, Rajesh Dubey, Vinod Ranganath, Jalees Sherwani, Amitabh Shukla, Sukant Panigrahi, Surabhi Sharma, Anusha Khan, Bishwadeep Chatterjee, C.K. Muraleedharan, Dr Manasee Palshikar, Jyoti Dogra, Joy Sengupta, Kauser Munir, Mazahir Rahim, Nishant Radhakrishnan (Film Editor: Satyamev Jayate), Preety Ali, Priyanka Borpujari, Rajashree, Ruchika Oberoi, Rukmini Sen, Sameera Iyengar, Sharad Tripathi, Shivani Tibrewala Chand, Siminatini Dhuru, Sona Jain, Tushar Gandhi, Teesta Setalvaad and Javed Anand.
