Bollywood celebrities visit Dharmendra's family to offer condolences
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Mumbai (PTI): A day after veteran star Dharmendra's death, prominent faces from Bollywood including Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn visited the screen icon's house in suburban Juhu to offer condolences to the family.
Dharmendra died on Monday just weeks shy of his 90th birthday after prolonged illness.
The usually vibrant lanes of Juhu, which lead to the actor's residence, wore a sombre look, and not much movement was witnessed after weeks of media presence that led the family to publicly request privacy and respect.
Over half a dozen private security guards were stationed outside the house as celebrities including Saif Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Farah Khan, Ananya Panday, Bhavna Panday, Anu Malik and others were spotted at the Deol family home. Dharmendra's nephew Abhay Deol was seen visiting his cousins.
The family, after being forced to publicly deny the false news of the actor's death reported by several media outlets on November 11, has kept quiet so far.
Dharmendra was not keeping well for a while and was in and out of a Mumbai hospital. The actor was discharged on November 12 with the family deciding to continue his treatment at home.
Media speculation around Dharmendra's health also led the family, including Hema Malini and daughter Esha Deol, to publicly issue statements with a request that their privacy be respected.
In a rare outburst, Sunny Deol scolded paparazzi stationed outside and told them to maintain a dignified distance.
Dharmendra's death at 89 led to an outpouring of grief by personalities from every walk of life with many celebrities sharing anecdotes about the late actor's kind nature and affable personality.
Dharmendra, born Dharam Singh Deol in Punjab in 1935, enjoyed a remarkable six-decade career, featuring in over 300 films and headlining classics such as "Sholay", "Chupke Chupke", "Satyakam, "Anupama", "Seeta Aur Geeta" and many others. He was widely celebrated for his versatility across action, romance and comedy.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
