Swara Bhaskar: People Are Rejecting BJP’s Divisive Narrative
News
oi-Swikriti Srivastava
By Pti
Actor
Swara
Bhaskar,
one
of
the
vocal
critics
of
new
citizenship
law,
claimed
on
Tuesday
that
the
BJP-led
Centre
was
making
all
efforts
to
polarise
people,
but
those
who
have
been
able
to
see
through
its
'divisive
plans
have
rejected
the
party's
narrative'.
Bhaskar,
while
participating
at
a
session
at
the
44th
International
Kolkata
Book
Fair,
said
citizens
do
not
initially
realise
when
their
freedom
is
curtailed,
as
they
try
and
adjust
to
the
changes.
"It
starts
with
someone
telling
us
what
to
eat,
what
to
read
and
which
clothes
to
wear
when
you
visit
the
house
of
God...
it
starts
with
small
things,"
she
said.
People
in
this
country,
however,
have
come
to
realise
that
the
Constitution
was
in
danger
and
many
have
rejected
the
'divisive
narrative'
of
the
government,
she
claimed.
"That
is
why
places
like
Shaheen
Bagh
and
Park
Circus
are
abuzz
with
protests.
Students
and
women
are
now
coming
out
on
the
streets
with
their
own
narratives," she
said.
The
31-year-old
actor
thanked
the
anti-citizenship
law
agitators
for
'awakening
the
conscience
of
the
country'
and
asserted
that
the
protests
should
have
commenced
earlier,
when
incidents
of
lynching
were
reported
from
several
states.
"I
find
it
interesting
(that)
women
who
were
silent
when
men
from
their
community
were
lynched...took
to
the
streets
upon
finding
out
that
the
Constitution
was
in
danger.
They
are
protesting
not
to
serve
own
interests,
but
for
the
future
of
the
country's
children,"
she
claimed.
To
a
question
about
BJP
leaders
berating
the
anti-
Citizenship
(Amendment)
Act
protesters,
Bhaskar
said,
"We
are
in
a
state
where
law
enforcement
agencies
are
of
the
view
that
unarmed
students,
sitting
in
a
library,
pose
greater
threat
than
gun-toting
youths,"
Bhaskar,
who
had
visited
Jamia
Millia
University
to
express
solidarity
with
the
agitators,
said.
Slamming
trolls,
who
'threatened
to
behead
actor
Deepika
Padukone',
she
rued
that
none
of
them
have
been
arrested.
"This
is
a
country
where
vandals
and
criminals
can
threaten
to
behead
Deepika
Padukone,
but
no
action
is
taken
against
them.
Children
performing
in
an
anti-CAA
play,
however,
can
be
slapped
with
sedition
charges
along
with
parents
and
teachers," she
added.
Police
in
Karnataka
has
recently
registered
a
sedition
case
against
the
principal
and
other
authorities
of
a
school
in
Bidar
district
for
allowing
students
to
stage
a
drama
which
allegedly
'portrays
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
in
poor
light'.