Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah often lands into trouble for passing controversial remarks in the public domain. Be it his fight with Anupam Kher or his controversial remark on the late Rajesh Khanna, Naseeruddin Shah has stirred controversies a lot of times in the past. The veteran actor has landed in trouble again for his recent remark. In one of his recent interviews, the senior actor called Mughals ‘refugees’ and ever since he has been at the receiving end of criticism from netizens on social media.
In a video, which is now doing rounds of the internet, Naseeruddin Shah claimed that Mughals came to India to make it their homeland. He also added that Mughals are the ones who have left lasting monuments in the country.
In an interview with Karan Thapar of The Wire, the veteran actor said, “The so-called atrocities of the Mughals are being highlighted all the time. We forget that the Mughals are people who have contributed to the country. They are people who have left lasting monuments in the country, who have left the tradition of dancing, music, painting, literature. Mughals came here to make this their homeland. You can call them refugees if you like…”
After he made this remark, the veteran actor is being heavily criticised on Twitter. One netizen wrote, “Why this relentless obsession with invaders? A new low – ‘Mughals are refugees’…” Another user added, ” Mughals were invaders not refugees.They were armed raiders,who visited India not to seek asylum,but to rule,taking advantage of disunity amongst the then existing Kingdoms in Indian Peninsula. They had their own culture,a sister branch of Indo Aryan culture,influence was obvious.”
One more Twitter user tweeted, “Mughals were refugees, Aryans were invaders & Naseeruddin Shah so called champion of Secularism are legacy of Mughal refugees in India.”
“For all his success, I think Mr Khanna was a very limited actor. In fact, he was a poor actor. Intellectually, he wasn’t the most alert person I have ever met. His taste ruled the industry quality of the script, acting, music and lyrics deteriorated,” he had once mentioned, in an interview with Hindustan Times.