In a scathing attack against the actor Deepika Padukone for her recent PR stunt in the JNU, Union Minister Smriti Irani said that the actor knew very well that she is standing in support of the tukde tukde gang that envisages destruction of India.
#NewsAlert – Union Minister Smriti Irani takes on Deepika Padukone over her visit to JNU. @_pallavighosh with details.#DeepikaInJNU | #JNUShowdown pic.twitter.com/WUCGmiP600
— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 10, 2020
“Anyone who reads or watches the news is well aware of where they would stand. They would know that they are standing with the people who want to see the destruction of India. They would know that they are standing in support of people who celebrate every time a CRPF soldier is killed. Deepika Padukone too knew she is standing with such people and it’s her stand. It’s her point of view and I don’t want to take that freedom away from her,” Irani said.
Smriti Irani was in Chennai at the closing session of ThinkEdu Conclave 2020 where she alleged that Deepika Padukone’s political affiliations were apparent when in 2011 she supported the Congress party. This was in reference to an interview given by Deepika Padukone in 2011 who had said that she supported former Congress President Rahul Gandhi for the Prime Ministerial position.
“Deepika had made her political affiliation clear in 2011 when she supported the Congress party. Her recent stand should not come as a surprise. She has a right to stand with those what to see the destruction of India. I can’t deny her the right. I think the problem that happened is that there were a lot of people who did not know her political affiliations. It was a shock for them,” Irani said.
Extolling the vibrancy of the Indian democracy and simultaneously taking a swipe at the communists, Irani said, “We have so many people with diverse opinions that we have communists yearning to come to power through a democratic process. It’s an oxymoron. As far Deepika is concerned, she has all the right to stand beside people who raised Bharat tere tukde hoge.”
Earlier, Deepika Padukone had stirred a hornet’s nest by visiting the Jawaharlal Nehru University as a part of a PR stunt for her upcoming movie Chhapaak. Three days prior to the release of her film Chhapaak, Deepika Padukone decided to show ‘solidarity’ with students who were imposing a boycott of the classes in the name of protest against the hike in fees. The leftist goons had attacked students who were registering for the winter semester and took over the server room and made it dysfunctional. JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, whom Deepika met, was found leading a mob on Sunday, 5th January, and is named in an FIR for vandalism by the JNU administration.
