MUMBAI: Actor Abhay Deol has slammed Bollywood celebrities for not voicing problems in their own country, and coming out to support the enraged Black Lives Matter movement in the US.
He said it is time to “create your own actions, your own movement, relevant to your own country”.
Solidarity begins at home
Abhay took to Instagram to express his views and share an image which had ‘#migrantlivesmatter #poorlivesmatter #minoritylivesmatter’ written on it.
“Maybe it’s time for these now? Now that “woke” indian celebrities and the middle class stand in solidarity with fighting systemic racism in America, perhaps they’d see how it manifests in their own backyard? America has exported violence to the world, they have made it a more dangerous place, it was but inevitable that it would come back karmically,” Abhay said.
He continued: “I’m not saying they deserve it, I’m saying look at the picture in it’s totality. I’m saying support them by calling out the systemic problems in your own country, because they turn out to be one and the same thing. I’m saying follow their lead but not their actions. Create your own actions, your own movement, relevant to your own country. That is what the #blacklivesmatter movement is all about! In the larger picture, there is no “us” and “them”. There is not a country that’s real. But a planet in peril. #migrantlivesmatter #minoritylivesmatter #poorlivesmatter #blacklivesmatter”.
Applause from Twitterverse
Twitter reacted to the Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara actor bashing celebs for their selective outrage and overlooking the injustice against minorities and migrants in India.
Here are some.
Over the past few days, Bollywood celebrities including Karan Johar, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Disha Patani and Ishaan Khatter, have extended support to the movement, which has been raging in the US following the brutal death of an unarmed African-American man named George Floyd.