In hot waters

Bollywood actor Dia Mirza breaks silence on controversial ‘dry Holi’ tweet

Bollywood beauty Dia Mirza has issued an apology after a tweet she posted invited backlash from different sections of Indian society. In the post, the actor and producer asked people to celebrate a dry Holi in light of the water shortage in the Indian state of Maharashtra, calling it a sad reality, reported the Deccan Chronicle. The controversial tweet read, “Irony of the times we live in: farmers commit suicide due to drought and people waste water to ‘play’ #Holi. Go ahead call me anti-Hindu.”

Dia, however, claims she did not have any intentions to hurt any community and was simply propagating water conservation. Defending herself, the 34-year-old said in a statement, “As a citizen of India, I have an equal respect for all religions, festivals and customs that are celebrated in our country. It has never been my intention to hurt the sentiments of any individual or community. In the event that my tweet has done so, I apologise unequivocally.”

Nonetheless, she went on to highlight the issue of the water shortage, driving her point home. “That said, the fact remains that various parts of our country are experiencing a severe water shortage. According to a report I read in April last year, the drought in Maharashtra has hit over nine million farmers and counting,” claimed Dia. “In October last year, the Maharashtra government officially declared a ‘drought-like condition’ in 14,708 of the state’s 43,000 villages.” The Bobby Jasoos producer added that water conservation is the need of the hour and everyone should contribute to it. “It is the absolute need of the hour and my request for us to indulge in a dry Holi was in keeping only with this sentiment of conservation and nothing else,” clarified Dia. “We may not have all the solutions to the water scarcity problem or any other problem for that matter, but I believe that empathy for those most affected, acknowledging and understanding the challenges we face and taking the steps we can as citizens, will only help.”

Unfortunately, this is not the first time a Muslim member of the Indian film fraternity has been put in the hot seat on account of something they may or may not have said. Even the revered Khans of Bollywood are not immune to having their well-intended comments misinterpreted by the media, as was seen in the recent controversies superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan were dragged into.

Back in November, Shah Rukh joined the chorus against “extreme intolerance” in India. “Religious intolerance and now being secular is the worst kind of crime that you can do as a patriot,” he said at a press conference in Mumbai, when a reporter asked what film stars could do in protest. Unfortunately, his words of wisdom sparked unprecedented backlash across India, with hundreds of avid Shah Rukh fans boycotting his December 2015 release, Dilwale. There was also an incident or two wherein some of the misled fans torched cinema houses holding shows for the hit movie.

In much the same way, Aamir also found himself in hot water around the same time, after his statements on Indian intolerance were “taken out of the context.” At an awards ceremony last year, the PK star shared how his Hindu wife Kiran was worried about their son. “She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day,” Aamir had said. His honest approach was, however, labeled as a desire to leave the country and many — including Aamir’s fellow Bollywood actors Raveena Tandon and Anupam Kher — began criticising the actor for being so “anti-nationalist.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2016.

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