Published 19:55 IST, December 12th 2019
CAB: Mahesh Bhatt reacts to passing of bill, praises Derek O'Brien for 'walking the talk'
As the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by the Parliament, Mahesh Bhatt reacted strongly. He also praiseed TMC MP Derek O'Brien for 'walking the talk'.
Mahesh Bhatt had a stong take on the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill that was passed by the Parliament recently. The filmmaker shared quotes on equality, and said there was nothing more ‘destructive’ that people deciding who are ‘human’ and who are not. The veteran also agreed with the views of Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Derek O’Brien, who equated the government’s decision to that of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi ideology. Bhatt said history has witnessed instances of a community being termed as ‘wrong’ to deny them ‘humanity’, something according to him, was responsible for genocides. He pointed out to an ‘unbridgeable divide’ between words and action, asking if the nation genuinely committed to its 'stated values.' The director also said power never relinquishes its hold on people until people put their lives on the line and take on power. Mahesh Bhatt also stated that it was time for the ‘freedom loving people’ to 'walk the talk', something he thanked Derek O’Brien for.
A day after the CAB was introduced in the Lok Sabha, Mahesh Bhatt shared a quote on Twitter that seemed to be a hint at the controversial bill. “Basic respect for persons entails regarding them as individuals with a right to equal consideration, not just judging them according to others with whom they happen to be grouped.” - The Ethics of Discrimination (Frederik Kaufman)”
The next day, he replied to Derek O’Brien sharing his address in the Rajya Sabha on Twitter. Bhatt wrote, “There nothing more destructive to this fragile thing we call civilisation than the illusion that a handful of people can decide who are human and who are not.” He also tweeted, "The lesson of history is that routinely and regularly, we identify a community or a group with something ‘wrong’ and deny them their humanity. That’s how genocides and mass murder takes place."
Later, he also responded to the resignation letter of the IGP, State Human Rights Commission, in protest against the passage of the bill. Mahesh Bhatt wrote, “There is an unbridgeable divide between our lofty ideals and our lived life. Are we as a nation genuinely committed to its stated values? Values have no meaning unless we back our words with action. Otherwise it’s just empty words and an empty life.” In another post, he tweeted, “Power never relinquishes it’s hold on people unless people put their life on line and lock horns with power . Time for all the freedom loving people to walk their talk. You are what u do not what u say u want to do.”
As another celebrity cited O'Brien's Rajya Sabha speech, Mahesh Bhatt responded, “There is an unbridgeable divide between our lofty ideals and our lived lives. The mother of all questions we all need to answer today : Are we as a nation genuinely committed to its stated values? Thank you Derek for walking the talk.”
What Derek O’Brien said
Derek O’Brien had stated in his address, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat their mistakes. I want to go back, 84 years when two distinct laws were passed by Nazi Germany. There is an eerie similarity to laws passed today." He even went on to draw similarities with the 1933 concentration camps and the 2018 detention camps in Assam.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill has been passed in both houses of the Parliament, amid protests. The bill provides the provision for refugees belonging to six religions, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity, from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to apply for Indian citizenship. The exclusion of Muslims in this category is the point of controversy. The passing of the bill has led to large-scale protests in Assam.
Updated 20:10 IST, December 12th 2019