Actor Prakash Belawadi, is known to essay complex roles with nuance and his theatre and film performances have won him critical acclaim. He has acted in Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi films and web series, and is also a filmmaker and motivational speaker. However, to the shock of his many fans, he has over time also re-positioned himself as a right wing aligned, minority hating man.
A recent Facebook post by the actor who hails from Karnataka, was one such example. As reported by sections of the media, Belawadi’s post after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s massive defeat in West Bengal, was aimed against Muslims reportedly blaming them as the ‘others’ who were responsible for the post poll violence in the state. Belawadi also justifies the 2002 Gujarat Pogrom. (GauriLankesh media)
His post, reportedly read: “On that morning of 27 February 2002, when a 59 pilgrims were burnt alive in a train at Godhra, a liberal friend, with whom I’m no longer friends, called me from Ahmedabad. of my liberal stance – now no longer with him – phoned from Ahmedabad: “That will teach these Sanghis a lesson” he said, or something to that effect. I said the retaliation would be swift and terrible. It was.. Of course, that riot was practically one-sided, since Muslims made up only 8% of the population in Gujarat. In West Bengal, it’s different: the Muslim population is over 30%. The retaliation won’t be swift.
But make no mistake, it will come, in the fullness of time, a Hindu-Muslim riot. When it does, it will be tragic, brutal and organised. The state government which seems cool about it now, and all the liberals who seem to think the Sanghis deserve it, will have a reckoning.
It’s already too late to stop it. It is sickeningly inevitable.”
Belawadi, according to the news report, has generated controversies earlier as well. This time his post seems to indirectly support acts against minorities and his “predicting” that a pogrom can take place in Bengal is shocking. According to the news report the Facebook post has been going viral among the Right-wing networks.
Prakash Belawadi, reported the GauriLankeshNews.com is now preparing the theatre performance of Kannada writer SL Bhairappa’s novel ‘Parva’, and that its one crore budget “was sanctioned by the state BJP govt.” After his communal post went viral, and his bigotry was called out by many, Belawadi escaped the social media storm by just signing off and posted: “Now that the argument is going ad hominem, I’m going off FB for a few months. Bye.”
However, the question here remains, why has there been no legal action taken against the actor for such a communal and dangerous social media post?
This story was first appeared on sabrangindia.in
