Saif Ali Khan reacts on nationwide CAA protests
Mumbai: Reacting to the ongoing nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), actor Saif Ali Khan said as a citizen he is concerned about the current situation in the country. The 49-year-old star is one of the few big names from Bollywood to react on the unrest due to the protests against the legislation.
"There are many things that give us a cause for concern, watching and wondering how where it will all end up," Saif said on the political scenario in the country.
Several Bollywood celebrities such as Farhan Akhtar, Parineeti Chopra, Richa Chadha, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Anurag Kashyap, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Hrithik Roshan and Swara Bhasker among others have voiced their disappointment over the amended Citizenship Act.
The silence of the A-listers from the film industry is being questioned on social media but the "Sacred Games" star said everybody has a right to express their opinion or not.
"It is everybody's right to protest peacefully and everybody's right not to," the actor told PTI in an interview. Saif said he trying to understand the situation better and will make up his mind after he is well-informed.
"I would like the protest to be associated with exactly what I am protesting against. There might be a possibility that I will end up representing a different kind of protest. So I am not sure yet. Until I am sure what I am protesting against and whether it is going to be taken that way, I need to think more.
"There is so much being written in the press, there are so many things that give us concern about what we are reading." In many ways, India has to define herself, the actor said.
"She will be defined by either the judiciary or the government or ultimately the people and we will know in what kind of environment we are living in. But it is still a little... That is dwelling on what I am reading and what I am told."
Protests broke out across the country after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was cleared by Parliament and signed by President Ram Nath Kovind into an Act.
According to the Act, people from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come to India till December 31, 2014, from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious persecution there will be given Indian citizenship. The protesters claim that the legislation was "unconstitutional and divisive" as it excludes Muslims.
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At UN, India flags concerns over targeting of vessels in Strait of Hormuz
United Nations (PTI): Targeting commercial shipping, endangering civilian crew and impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is "unacceptable", India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Parvathaneni Harish has said.
Harish's remarks at a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC) on safeguarding energy and supply flows came days after an India-flagged commercial vessel came under attack off the coast of Oman.
Omani authorities rescued all 14 crew members of the vessel sailing from Somalia, but it was not immediately known who carried out the strike.
In a post on X on Sunday, Harish said that at the UNECOSOC meeting, he shared India's approach to the recent energy and fertiliser crisis caused by the West Asia conflict.
"A combination of short-term and structural measures alongside international cooperation are essential to respond to the crisis," he said.
"Reiterated that targeting of commercial shipping, endangering civilian crew and impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, are unacceptable. International law in this regard must be fully respected," he added.
The attack on the India-flagged vessel on May 13 took place amid the fragile situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway close to the coast of Oman through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies pass.
It has been severely disrupted by the conflict in West Asia that started on February 28, with the US and Israel launching joint attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes.
Earlier, India had described the attack as "unacceptable".
At least two other Indian-flagged ships have been attacked since the conflict broke out.
According to the UNECOSOC website, the meeting, which took place on Friday, focused on “Safeguarding energy and supply flows: Supporting global development through international cooperation”.
