Actor Amitabh Bachchan on Tuesday said the people of India are very angry about incidents taking place along the country's borders, ANI reported. Bachchan was addressing the media on his 74th birthday. His statements were a reference to reports of increased militant strikes in Kashmir, which the Indian government has accused Pakistan of influencing.
The actor reportedly dismissed questions about a political faction's call to ban Pakistani actors as a response to the Uri terror attacks, according to a report by The Indian Express. He said, “This is not the time and I don’t think it is right to put forward these questions. Who said what, where and how… this is not the time.” Several members of the film industry, including Salman Khan, Om Puri, Radhika Apte and Karan Johar, had expressed their dismay over the call to ban Pakistani actors in India.
On September 29, the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association "banned" Pakistani actors and technicians from shooting in India till "normalcy" returned. The ban on Pakistani actors came hours after India announced it had conducted "surgical strikes on terror launchpads" along the Line of Control with Pakistan. Relations between India and Pakistan soured after the militant attack in Kashmir's Uri on September 18.
Bachchan expressed his solidarity with soldiers of the Indian Army, saying, "I think it is the time to show solidarity to our jawans and our armed forces who are sacrificing their lives so that you and me can be safe here. That is what needs to be put in question. Nothing else.” The actor said he hoped the government would take strict action against the perpetrators of these attacks.
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