Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)

Mangaluru, Mar 14: Multi-lingual actor Prakash Rai on Wednesday March 14 urged students to be responsible citizens and question wrongdoings. "Be fearless, honest and don’t be afraid to ask questions," he said.

Prakash Rai was speaking here at St Aloysius College on Wednesday, March 14, on the topic 'People with different opinions should not be threatened'.

The session was part of a day-long symposium hosted by the college on the theme 'Champion human dignity: Translate fear into hope'. Supreme Court lawyer Kiruba Munuswamy documentary filmmaker nakul Sawhney were the other speakers of the event.

"I have always stressed upon asking questions but we are in a situation where asking questions puts you in deep trouble. It is your basic right to ask questions. Recently, a student was suspended after he posted 'Bundle Shah' as status trolling Amit Shah on social media. Does he not have the right to express his opinion? He was suspended.This is a way of threatening and creating a sense of fear. We should speak out against this and all citizens should unite and question if something is going wrong," he said.

"I have always loved the colour saffron and when saffron comes to my mind, I expect to hear good words. But the people who hide behind saffron colour and talk different things in the name of Hindutva want to wipe out other religions in order to dominate. This is nothing but hijacking the religion. I don't understand when colour saffron became Hindu and green became Muslim. Why do we eat vegetables, when it is green?" he said.

"There was violence all over the country over Padmavat release. When the Supreme Court ordered the release, some state governments refused and public property was vandalised. They even pelted stones on a school bus. Just imagine the fear in the minds of children; it may take another 20 years for them to come out of that fear," he grieved.

Rai also lashed out at the political intervention in films, imposing ideologies in filmmaking and repeatedly opposing films. "It is not only Padmavat, but other movies too faced a lot of trouble," he said.

"The culprits in the pub attack incident have been acquitted. Is this not disturbing you? If you talk or question then they will politicise the issue. This is what the reality is. I urge students not to stop asking questions, but be fearless and honest so that others get inspired," he said.