Filmmakers Ashoke Pandit and Madhur Bhandarkar on Friday said the open letter written by 49 celebrities to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing their concern over the incidents of lynching was nothing but an attempt to "defame the nation."
The two filmmakers are among 62 celebrities who on July 26 wrote an open letter titled - 'Against Selective Outrage and False Narratives'. The other celebrities included classical dancer Sonal Mansingh who have termed the signatories of the open letter on mob-lynchings as "self-styled guardians and conscience keepers."
Pandit said: "These kinds of things are done by celebrities just to pull down the government. These people don't understand that nobody is going to believe in their stories. This entire gang of people gets together before the elections as they did before 2014 and 2019. Now because the assembly elections are just around the corner, they have started this same habit again."
"Moreover half of the signatories are from West Bengal. So I can openly say that these are being planted by Mamata Banerjee to create restlessness. These people are leaving no stone unturned to defame the country on the world forum," he said.
Pandit said: "I want to ask Aparna Sen, who is one of the renowned filmmakers and actors that why did she shamelessly take Padma Shri in 1987 after the 1984 mob-lynching case where Sikhs were massacred and killed. So for her 1984 was nothing but now it is."
While Madhur said that cases pertaining to mob-lynching have been there since the past 50 years and no voices were being raised before. "This is selective outrage. It is simply a game played by these signatories before the elections," he said.
Elucidating further, he said: "It is a selective outrage going on. Basically, we are seeing this pattern from Gujarat. It happened way back when Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji was denied a visa for America. Then it happened during 2014 and 2019 elections. These people are not vocal about anything but wait for the correct time."
"When people were put behind the bars for saying 'Jai Shri Ram' and temples were attacked in Delhi, that time they did not say anything. I think this is very necessary to counter these people because this is basically a pattern and it is an insult to the mandate, which the people of India have given to Modi ji," he said.
Speaking to , Central Bureau of Film Certification (CBFC) chairman Prasoon Joshi also on Friday said that there was an "alarming need for positive thinking" in the country.
"When the current government is trying to develop the nation, there is a group of people who are only trying to create obstacles. There is an alarming need for positive thinking in the country and our step is against people who are promoting negative thinking in the nation," said Joshi, while speaking to exclusively.
"The few privileged who took this country for granted are in absolute denial about several changes that the country is going through. They are ungraciously refusing to acknowledge the mandate of the people of India," he said.
Joshi said that there are people from the creative fraternity who take undue advantage of their position and trying to create false narratives.
"There are a few people who are more privileged to raise a voice, know the lexicon of the elite world and also know how to put their ideas forward, are taking serious advantage of it at a juncture where they really need to be very responsible," he said.
"You cannot stir up negative emotions among the people. They are trying to exploit the vulnerability of the people. Their mindset reflects -- We know better what is the best for the country than the people who think what the best is for them," Joshi added.
Prasoon requested these celebrities to use their "energies constructively." "We really need creators and contributors at this juncture in India," he said.
On July 23, 49 celebrities wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Modi demanding that "exemplary punishment" should be meted out "swiftly and surely" in lynching cases. The letter, which also highlighted 'Jai Shri Ram' as becoming a "provocative war-cry" in the present day, carried the signatures of among others Anurag Kashyap, M Ratnam, and Shyam Benegal.
( With inputs from ANI )