Javed Jafri discusses how religion is now used to divide people

In a throwback video, the actor addresses the greatest poison in today's world

KARACHI: In a throwback video that has recently been surfacing the internet, Bollywood actor Javed Jafri can be seen speaking about the Hindu-Muslim divide.

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In a 2015 video, Jafri states that he noticed that miscellaneous things such as flowers are used to divide people. He claims that people have associated the marigold to Hinduism because it's usually offered at temples, while lillies are associated to Islam as they're taken to shrines.

He also quotes a poet, "Nafraton ka asar dekho, janwaron ka batwara hogaya, gaye Hindu hogai aur bakra Musalman hogaya." This translates to, "Look at what hatred has done to the world. It has even divided animals, where a cow is sacred to Hindus and goats are important to Muslims."

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In the poem, Jafri further adds that even trees, plants and birds would get worried if they were to divided on the basis of religion.

Moving forward, the Dhamaal actor recites, "Na janay nariyal kab Hindu aur khajoor Musalman hogae," translating that it's a shock that even coconuts are now associated with Hinduism while dates are considered a part of Islam.

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Jafri also states that colours are correlated based on religion as well, where green is called the colour of Islam and red is for Hinduism. The 54-year-old jokes that the day is not far away when even vegetables are classified based on colour and religion -  in which Muslims will get all the green vegetables and Hindus would only be left with tomatoes and carrots.

He questions, "Who would the watermelon be linked to then? The poor fruit is Muslim from the outside but Hindu on the inside."


After concluding the poem, Jafri addressed the biggest danger to the world is the divide between people. He shared, "People are poisoning each other's hearts in the name of religion. I request all of you to please stay away from such baseless atrocities and stop getting manipulated."

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The Boogie Woogie host also explained that just because someone follows another religion does not mean that they are unworthy of respect. "We should treat people of all religions equally and give them the same amount of respect as any other," he said.

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