Article 370 abrogation in Jammu and Kashmir last week has not just the valley simmering in uncertainty, it has also polarised the country with many lauding the efforts of the BJP government but many also criticizing the government for not taking the opinion of people of the state into consideration and the heavy-handed manner in which it was done.
Latest in the list is Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi who called the decision of scrapping article 370 without consulting Kashmiri people undemocratic and unconstitutional.
The actor was in Australia to take part in the Indian Film Festival in Melbourne, Australia. Sethupathi won the Best Actor award for his role as a transgender in the critically-acclaimed film Super Deluxe. He spoke about the issue in an interview to SBS Tamil Australia, a radio channel.
“This is against democracy- Sethupathi said. He also quoted Tamil socialist leader Periyar EV Ramasamy. Periyar had said earlier itself that people themselves should decide on their problems and issues. Can I interfere in the affairs of your house? It is you who live there and know what is best for you. I can be concerned about you, but cannot impose my decisions on you. These are two different things,” “As people living outside Kashmir, we can be concerned about them, but we should not step in to offer suggestions. We only talk on what we have heard, but it is those who are living there who know what the actual problem is. I am deeply pained about it. he added.
Contrary to that, Rajinikanth lauded the NDA government for revoking article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. In a function, he also congratulated Home Minister Amit Shah and said “My heartfelt congrats to you for mission Kashmir. The speech you delivered in Parliament was fantastic.” In his speech, Rajinikanth said that the relationship between the Home Minister and the Prime Minister is like that of Krishna and Arjuna.
Earlier also, Rajinikanth had echoed pro- BJP leaders stand in the state during anti-Sterlite protests last year where 13 people died in the government crackdown on the agitators who were protesting against the Vedanta’s Sterlite copper smelter in the area. He criticized people for the protests and praised the AIADMK government for “clamping anti-social elements with an iron fist”.
