JNU Violence: Filmmaker Kabir Khan On The Horrific Attacks, ‘JNU is Home, Heartbreaking to See This India Today’
Filmmaker Kabir Khan says it’s heartbreaking to such disturbing visuals of students being beaten up at JNU, which he calls his home, and he also feels religion has caused such rifts
Entire India is condemning and expressing their grief, angst and helplessness over the recently-held attacks at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). It so happened that a mob of masked people trespassed into the educational premise and started hitting the students, its faculty and vandalising the property on Sunday night. A lot of citizens, including Bollywood celebrities, have expressed their outrage and disappointment over the violent attack through different means. Something similar is the case of acclaimed filmmaker Kabir Khan, who has directed blockbusters like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Tiger Zinda Hai.
In a conversation with The Quint, Kabir Khan revealed how the visuals of students being assaulted and that such tragedy taking place at JNU, wherein his father was a founding professor, has shattered his heart into pieces. He calls JNU as his home. “I lived on that campus. Those visuals that I was seeing with the goons and the lathis, those are the roads I have played on, I cycled on, I walked on. It was heartbreaking to see that in this day and age, that a bunch of goons can just enter and just start attacking students and vandalise property with such impunity,” said Kabir Khan. (ALSO READ - JNU Violence: Alia Bhatt, Sonam Kapoor Break Their Silence; ‘Strongly Oppose Any Ideology That Seeks To Divide')
He added, “I was sitting there with my mother and my father’s no more. I could see the effect it was having on her. She’s 86 and…I get very emotional. It’s just heartbreaking. I couldn’t even get myself to hold her hand. I could see what she was going through. That’s not the India she brought us up in.”
Kabir Khan was also among the many celebrities who protested against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Upon being asked about the same, he said, “If I am feeling pained, you’re feeling pained or anybody else is feeling pained with what’s happening in the country, then speak up. You know that’s what a democracy is about, it’s about the debate. It’s about saying that, ‘Hey I am not happy with this.’ I might be right or wrong but I have the right to express.” Kabir also blames religion for creating such problems. He said, “I just feel that religion is becoming an issue. When I was growing up, religion was not an issue, at least not in my life. For the first time, I am feeling that a lot of things are being looked through the prism of religion.”
On the work front, Kabir Khan is gearing up 83, which is a sports drama based on the Indian cricket team’s victory at the 1983 World Cup. It stars Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone among many others.
image source: instagram/kabirkhankk
