Open hate in society is disturbing, says Naseeruddin Shah
Mumbai: Actor Naseeruddin Shah on Saturday said he stands by his remarks on mob violence incidents and is disturbed by "open hate" in the society.
Last year, the 69-year-old veteran, referring to the recent spate of mob violence incidents, had said that at many places the death of a cow is being given more importance than the killing of a policeman.
Shah, who was in conversation with actor Anand Tiwari at the India Film Project, was responding to a question about whether his views about political and social issues has adversely affected his ties with film fraternity.
"I never had any close relationship with the film industry and fraternity in any case. I don't know whether it has affected my standing or not because I don't often get offered work very much. What I felt I said and I stand by it.
"I faced a lot of abuse by people, who have nothing better to do, but it doesn't affect me at all. What is disturbing is the open hate," the actor said.
Recently, the actor was among the over 180 members of the cultural community, that also included cinematographer Anand Pradhan, historian Romila Thapar and activist Harsh Mander, who condemned the FIR lodged against 49 celebrities for an open letter they wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last week, an FIR was filed in Bihar's Muzaffarpur against personalities, including directors Aparna Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and writer-columnist Ramchandra Guha for alleged sedition over a letter they wrote to the PM in July, voicing concern over growing incidents of mob lynching.
The Bihar police has ordered closure of the case and decided to prosecute the complainant for levelling "false" allegations, a top police official said.
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link now fully operational
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link was opened to vehicular traffic on Saturday noon after a delay caused by the dismantling of inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work, a day after the Pune section became operational.
The 13.3 km-long "missing link", which bypasses a section of the Bhor Ghat stretch of the expressway and cuts travel time between Mumbai and Pune by 25 to 30 minutes, was inaugurated a day earlier by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
The Pune-bound carriageway of the corridor was opened to traffic immediately; however, the Mumbai-bound section remained closed to traffic for several hours after the inauguration.
An official of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation told PTI on Saturday that the opening of the Mumbai-bound carriageway was delayed mainly due to the dismantling of the inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work.
The removal of the stage and other decorations was completed in the morning. The work to load and transport the material slightly delayed the opening of the carriageway.
Vehicular movement on the carriageway began after all the remaining material was cleared and road cleaning was completed, the official added.
The expressway control room said that despite significant vehicular movement, the access-controlled highway has not witnessed any major traffic snarls since Friday evening, after the Pune-bound carriageway of the missing link was opened to traffic.
The Missing Link project connects Khopoli (in Raigad) on the Mumbai side to Kusgaon near Lonavala in Pune district and is expected to make the expressway fully access-controlled, easing congestion in the ghat section.
Developed by the MSRDC and dubbed an "engineering marvel", the project includes two tunnels, two viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley. It bypasses the steep, accident-prone ghat section, where frequent traffic snarls are reported during weekends and on public holidays.
