Won't stop raising my voice: Ali Fazal addresses #BoycottMirzapur2 controversy

The actor irked a few over his anti-CAA stance that propelled the protest against the show

Last week, Twitter lit up with a hashtag of #BoycottMirzapur2. According to a pro-BJP Indian website, the reason for the Twitter trend was said to be an old tweet of the protagonist, Ali Fazal, that recently went viral on the micro-blogging website. In that tweet, it was reported that Fazal 'mocked' death of a government official with a dialogue from the aforementioned tv series. Many had shared a purported tweet of Fazal celebrating the earlier Delhi riots. 

Fazal has finally responded to the controversy. 

Speaking to Mid Day, the Victoria Abdul star said he was sad that people were calling for a boycott of the show as a number of people were associated with the project: “I feel bad when people talk about boycotting the show because so many people are involved in making it. Sometimes, I have to weigh my options and take a step back for the larger good of others; I don’t want them to bear the brunt of my actions," he told the publication. "That said, I will not stop raising my voice. I am an artist in a free world, I am supposed to raise questions. The environment of hate needs to be tackled with peace. We are the country that won its freedom through peace, after all.”

As soon as the trailer of the Amazon Prime series arrived, #BoycottMirzapur was among the top trends in India. Reacting to the trend, Ali had told Times Now Digital, “We have to decide what is the bar we are setting. Are we at the mercy of a trend? No! I don’t look at art in that way. Are we at the mercy of one app that decides who will watch our show and who will not? No, I think this has really gone down," he said, adding, "I mean if you are really talking about trends, I never saw any trends related to farmers – there have been protests everywhere across our country. But I wouldn’t say that it’s not an important story, it’s the most important story. Pandemic suddenly has become the last story on everybody’s mind. It’s not trending anymore but it’s still supposed to be the biggest problem that we are facing. I hope the people rise above that.”