Deserted by kids, 'Pakeezah' actress Geeta Kapoor dead
Mumbai, May 26: Veteran Bollywood actress Geeta Kapoor, who shot into the limelight for her role in the classic "Pakeezah", breathed her last in a Mumbai old age home on Saturday morning, a family friend said.
She was 67 and had been living in the old age home after she was reportedly abandoned by her son and daughter last year.
"Heartbreaking! 'Pakeezah' actress Geeta Kapoor passes away after waiting to see her children one last time," tweeted her friend and film-personality Ashoke Pandit.
She had acted in around 100 films in supporting roles/characters, including prominent ones in Kamal Amrohi's films "Pakeezah"," "Razia Sultan".
In a humanitarian gesture, film producer Ramesh Taurani and Pandit had been caring for the actress and paying her medical bills after her children turned their backs on her. Her son Raja is a choreographer and her daughter Pooja is an airhostess.
Kapoor, was deserted by her children in May 2017 at the SRV Hospital, Goregaon, and was later shifted by Pandit and Taurani, to the Jeevan Asha old age home run by the Society of Helpers of Mary in Andheri West.
She had once complained of ill-treatment meted out by her son, including assault and not giving her food regularly.
She longed very much to see her children since then, but they never came and she kept getting weaker with passing time, and finally passed away on Saturday, said Pandit.
The body will be kept at the Cooper Hospital morgue ahead of the funeral on Monday amid hopes that her children would come to perform the final rites.
"Her body will be kept at Cooper Hospital, Vile Parle for two days hoping her children to come and at least do the last rites. Otherwise, we will do our best to bid her a dignified goodbye," Pandit tweeted.
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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.
