In a celebration of India, artistes speak up at JNU...

NEW DELHI: Valentine’s Day can be a celebration of India, actor Ratna Pathak Shah said while performing Ismat Chughtai’s ‘Hindustan Chhod Do’ at ‘India, My Valentine’, an event organised by Jawaharlal Nehru University students on Valentine’s Day.
Calling the event different from a protest, the actor said, “We should remind ourselves through this the idea of India that we remember.” If artistes feel for something, they can find a way to speak, she emphasised.
The event, which started with a one-minute silence for the Pulwama martyrs, also had actor Swara Bhasker as a participant who said it was planned to highlight “multiple shades and different conversations at JNU. We wanted to celebrate love today”.
The programme, though, had its share of the anti-CAA/NRC narratives, with one of the stand-up comics, Varun Thakur, in an apparent reference to the January 5 violence, joking about how he expected to see people beating up students on the campus. He later told TOI his maiden visit was a “welcome change from what you keep hearing about the university”.
Stand-up comic Aditi Mittal said she decided to perform as she regarded India as her Valentine. “We love India and we wanted to show our love for India. CAA is violating Article 14 of our Constitution.” Sanjay Rajoura, another artiste, said, “If I don’t speak up, I have no right to call myself an Indian.”
Manik Mahana, who claimed to be the “most sensible right-winger” stand-up artiste, said sometimes we “need our own people to provoke us so that we know what it is like when someone provokes us”.
Before the event, a few students protested in support of JNU student Sharjeel Imam, facing sedition charges, and questioned the student union’s decision to call off an event in his support on Thursday. However, Saket Moon, JNU Students’ Union vice-president, said the union would hold a protest for Sharjeel on Saturday.