PremiumManipur violence: Bollywood is ‘shaken and disgusted’ over the ‘shameful’ incidents
Akshay Kumar, Kamal Haasan, Priyanka Chopra, Kiara Advani, Kareena Kapoor, Sonu Sood, and Richa Chadha are among actors who have been vocal about the violence that has gripped the northeastern state
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Akshay Kumar, Kamal Haasan, and Kareena Kapoor Khan are among the actors who have voiced their concern over the incidents in Manipur
Last Updated: 07.55 PM, Jul 21, 2023
The entire nation has been shaken and in uproar over the unfortunate Manipur incident. And actors, who are often targeted for being mum on several burning issues, have been vocal about the horrific incident. This includes Akshay Kumar, Kamal Haasan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kiara Advani, Sonu Sood, Tejasswi Prakash, and Richa Chadha, among others.
Bollywood reacts
Several actors have been retweeting posts on the incident, and also tweeting their opinions, hurt, anger, disgust, and dissapointment on the issue.
Taking to his Twitter page with the hope of seeing justice for the women, Akshay Kumar said that he is "Shaken, disgusted to see the video of violence against women in Manipur."
Calling the violence "shameful", Tejasswi Prakash has retweeted several videos and posts on the Manipur violence, including Akshay Kumar's video on the incident.
Kiara Advani, whose film Satyaprem Ki Katha with Kartik Aaryan was released recently, tweeted that the violence has "shaken me to the core".
Seeking swift justice, Priyanka Chopra Jonas took to her Instagram Stories to stress the fact that women cannot be allowed to be pawns in any game.
Standup comic and actor Vir Das, who is known to be vocal about issues, questioned the media's silence on the issue for over two months.
Taking to her Instagram Stories, Kareena Kapoor Khan posted that she is "deeply disturbed with the situation in Manipur".
Retweeting several posts on the issue, Richa Chadha called the National Commission for Women a "useless, partisan body".
Seething with anger at the incident, Riteish Deshmukh tweeted that he is "deeply disturbed with the visuals of the atrocities against the women in Manipur."
Shaken by the videos, Sonu Sood tweeted that “it was humanity that was paraded, not the women”.
Urmila Matondkar tweeted her anger in Hindi, saying that those who harass women should feel shame. She even quoted Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in another tweet: "Without humanity, your glory is worthless."
Senior actors react
Revealing that she couldn’t watch the entire video, senior actor and member of the Indian Parliament Jaya Bachchan told news agency ANI, “I felt so bad. I could not see the entire video. I was ashamed. Nobody cares. Women are being treated so badly. It is very frustrating. Every day, something or other is happening to women. It is very saddening.”
Kamal Haasan, who is in San Diego, USA, to attend Comic-Con for his film Kalki 2898 AD, aka Project K, with Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, and Amitabh Bachchan, tweeted that the stir in Manipur is a "clear case for President's rule".
Alia Bhatt’s mother, Soni Razdan, wondered what the government was doing to solve the issue. In an Instagram Story, she posted, “I really really want to know what the government is doing and why prime time news is not flooded with news about Manipur and most of all, where is the army?”
What's been happening in Manipur?
The northeastern state has been burning since early May, witnessing ethnic violence. Several fatalities have been reported in the state since.
On Wednesday, a video surfaced of two women from the Kuki-Zomi community being paraded naked by a mob of men and being sexually assaulted.
What is the viral video all about?
The two women, one in her 20s and the other in her 40s, are from the Kuki-Zomi dominated hill district of Kangpokpi. In the video, they can be seen being made to walk naked down a road and towards a field by a mob of men. Some of the men can be seen dragging the two women towards a field and forcibly groping them.