Anubav Sinha writes open letter to trolls accusing him of running propaganda in favour of Muslims
Mumbai, July 16 : Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, who is being accused of running propaganda to garner support and sympathy for Muslims through his upcoming film "Mulk", has hit out at trolls, saying the movie is not funded by either underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, the Congress or the RSS, and neither is it about Hindus or Muslims.
In a Twitter post on Monday, Sinha, who has directed the movie, articulated his thoughts about the negative comments that he has been receiving against the film, a courtroom drama about restoring the honour of a Muslim family accused of treason.
Sinha has slammed trolls for how they are "lost under heaps and heaps of hate posts that you write every day, every hour for four years now" and without having "a name or a face".
He explained: "'Mulk'... No it is not funded by Dawood Ibrahim. You can ask him. Not even Congress. You can ask Rahul (Gandhi). Not even the RSS. You can check with Mohan Bhagwatji. It is funded by Mr Deepak Mukut and his father Kamal Mukut, a veteran in this business.
"No... Every post of mine is not about 'Mulk'. We are spending crore of rupees promoting the film, we spent even more making it. These tweets are just a very minor part of the campaign and like I said, we do have a life.And a voice, so outside of our work we do talk."
He said reading posts from trolls makes him smile, and he "feels bad".
"Sometimes you do end up hurting us but mostly not because we know it is not your voice. In fact, it is not even you. It is just your fingers and your eyes being grossly underutilised by your masters. It is your master's instructions and we give a damn about them."
Sinha took the opportunity also to plug in the film, which features Rishi Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu, Neena Gupta, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, Ashutosh Rana, Prachee Shah Paandya, Vartika Singh, Ashrut Jain and Indraneil Sengupta.
"'Mulk' is a very nice film. It is not doing what you think it is doing. It is not about your masters. Hindus or Muslims. It is about you and it is about me and mostly it is about us."
An open letter to all the trolls. Bring it on!!! pic.twitter.com/QSLMOBLmnz
— Anubhav Sinha (@anubhavsinha) July 15, 2018
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National Herald case: Shivakumar to seek time next week to appear before Delhi police
New Delhi/Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday said he will ask for time from Delhi police to appear before them next week, to provide required information as part of the probe into the National Herald case.
He said he will seek time after the ongoing winter session of Karnataka legislature ends on December 19. He will also ask the Delhi police to provide him the FIR copy.
Shivakumar, who is in the national capital, had earlier said that he will appear before the Delhi police on Monday. But, he postponed the plan in order to rush back to Karnataka to participate in the last rites of veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, scheduled later in the day in Davangere.
"I had to go (to appear before the Delhi police), but I have to go back urgently. I'm asking them for time, stating that I will come next week," Shivakumar told reporters in New Delhi.
"They (Delhi police) have not attached the FIR copy while issuing notice to me. I need FIR copy, because we had already given all the required replies to the ED. I don't know what the FIR says, I only read in papers. They have given notice, I will ask for a FIR copy. I will come next week after the Assembly session."
The Delhi Police had issued a notice to Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress chief, seeking financial and transactional details as part of its probe into the National Herald case.
The notice issued by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) states that Shivakumar is "supposed to be having vital information" pertaining to the National Herald case registered on October 3 this year, against top Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
In the notice dated November 29, the EOW had asked Shivakumar to appear before it or provide the requested information by December 19 latest.
Investigators have sought details about his personal background, his association with the Congress party, and a complete break up of funds allegedly transferred by him or associated entities to Young Indian.
To a question on meeting AICC General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, amid the ongoing power tussle between him and CM Siddaramaiah over the Chief Minister post, Shivakumar said when he comes to Delhi, he usually meets every one.
"Whether it is Surjewala or Kharge (AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge) or Venugopal, I will meet everyone. During lunch yesterday I met Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. I have met everyone. What's wrong?" he asked.
Shivakumar was in Delhi to take part in Congress' "Vote Chori" rally on Sunday, and had also participated in the lunch organised by the party for its leaders.
Responding to a question, whether any meeting is planned with leaders today, the Deputy CM said, he and Kharge will be travelling together to Karnataka, to pay last respects to Shamanuru Shivashankarappa.
Asked if he will seek time for a separate meeting with Congress leadership including Rahul Gandhi, during the next visit to Delhi, Sivakumar said, "such things will be there between us in the party.... you don't worry."
