Naseeruddin Shah criticises celebration of Taliban among Indian Muslims-Entertainment News , Firstpost

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has criticised a section of Indian Muslims for celebrating Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan, and said it is a cause for concern.

The Taliban ousted the government in Afghanistan, and took over the control of the country after capturing Kabul last month.

Shah, in a video that has gone viral on Twitter, said every Indian Muslim must introspect if they want “reform and modernity” in the religion or live with dated “barbarian” values. “Even as the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan is a cause for concern for the whole world, celebrations of the barbarians in some sections of the Indian Muslims is no less dangerous. Every Indian Muslim should ask themselves if they want reform and modernity in Islam or the barbarian values of the past few centuries,” Shah said in the video.

The 71-year-old actor referenced Mirza Ghalib’s poem, and said his relationship with the almighty is informal (betakaluff). “I don’t need a political religion,” he said.

Shah said Indian Islam has been different from the rest of the world, and hoped it never changes beyond recognition. “Hindustani Islam duniya bhar ke Islam se humesha mukhtalif raha hai. Khuda woh waqt na laye ki woh itna badal jaye ki hum use pehchaan bhi na sake. (Indian Islam has always been different from the rest of the world. May God not bring a time when it changes so much that we do not even recognise it),” he added.

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, who directed Shah in the 2009 political drama The Tashkent Files, shared the video on Twitter

I am so glad #NaseeruddinShah has spoken against the inhuman and barbaric Taliban. I hope more and more educated and creative Muslims (specially from Bollywood) speak against these enemies of humanity. Bravo, Naseer Bhai. pic.twitter.com/RZUSGaugIe

— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) September 2, 2021

With inputs from Press Trust of India.