Mumbai: A sedition case has been filed against veteran actor Om Puri on Tuesday for his comment on Indian soldiers. An FIR has been registered against the actor at the Andheri Police Station in Mumbai by a person named Prithvi Maske, who has requested for a sedition charge to be filed against Puri under Section 124[A].
Recently, Puri was part of a television debate about the IMPPA’s (Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association) indefinite ban on Pakistani artistes from working in Indian projects. The ban was in response to the killing of 19 Indian soldiers in a terror attack in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, on September 18.
During the debate, Puri said, “Who had asked the soldiers to join the army? Who told them to pick the weapons? Do you want India-Pakistan enmity to turn like Israel and Palestine, and fight for ages? India is home to crores of Muslims, there is no point in proving them for war. Several Indians have their relatives staying across the border and vice-versa, how can they fight a war with their cross-border families?”
“I don’t give a damn to Salman Khan or some other Khan… Go to Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and cancel their (Pakistani actors’) visas. Prepare 15-20 people as suicide bombers and send them to Pakistan,” he added. Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit and veteran actor Anupam Kher came out against Puri after his controversial remarks.
“When the government is taking an action, we all should stay quiet. It hardly matters if we send back the artists from Pakistan, who are working here, or let them stay. I have been to Pakistan six times and have met people from all strata,” the 65-year-old actor said here.
Om Puri visited Pakistan in August to promote the Pakistani film “Actor in Law”, in which he plays a key role.
“I have always received love and warmth. If the Pakistani actors leave the projects they are doing here in middle, then people in India (filmmakers) will also face financial loss. Hence, this is insignificant. The actors have not come here through any illegal way. They have valid visa. But, if the government will ask them to leave, then it is different,” he said.
The ‘Dirty Politics’ actor is also being slammed by the social media users for the same.