‘Everyone has the right to protest but…’: Anupam Kher reacts to the ongoing farmers’ protest

Veteran actor Anupam Kher believes that artistes should not work as activists. The negative impact of demonstrations and rallies is the subject of his next film Kaagaz 2. Directed by VK Prakash, the film highlights the hardships common individuals face due to the protests and rallies.

Kher told in an interview Actors and entertainers are not considered warriors. In a personal capacity, I have spoken out about something that has troubled me and suffered the consequences. I became unpopular with many people but it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, I want to sleep with my thoughts at peace.

The actor, who participated in the India Against Corruption movement in 2011, said the ideal way to resolve issues is “dialogue”. He said “We are in an independent country, thanks to the ‘movement’ done by (Mahatma) Gandhiji. We are the result of the Quit India Movement, the Non-Cooperation Movement, but the people of India were together, it was not something that “I am just helping you (some people), not others.”

Talking about the ongoing farmers’ protest at the Delhi NCR border, the actor said, everyone has the right to freedom of movement, freedom of expression, but not to inconvenience other people. This is the current scenario in our country, the protest, just because it is called farmer protest, I do not think that the farmers of the entire country feel like this, farmers are farmers. We are made to feel defensive by saying that we are talking about Annadata…I feel that people who pay taxes are also contributing to the development of the country. I think it is not right to make the lives of common people miserable.

Referring to the 2021 farmers’ protest, Kher expressed his dissatisfaction over the series of incidents that unfolded after protesting farmers stormed Delhi’s historic Red Fort. The actor said, “That scene will always haunt me when the protesters reached the Red Fort and they took out my country’s flag and replaced it with some other flag, I will not sympathize with such people, even at the cost of being unpopular among some people.” You are on it.