Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Saturday continued his attack on Bollywood celebrities Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan for "failing to speak up" on burning public issues.
Patole said Kumar and Bachchan aren't real heroes. "If they were, they would've stood beside people during their sufferings," he added. Patole said that they (party members) will follow Mahatma Gandhi's principle of non-violence and show black flags whenever their films are released.
"I didn't speak against Akshay Kumar&Amitabh Bachchan but against their work. They're not real heroes. If they were, they would've stood beside people during their sufferings. If they want to continue being 'kagaz ke sher', then we don't have any problem," news agency ANI quoted Nana Patole as saying.
"We haven't stepped back. We'll show black flags to them whenever their films are released or when we spot them. We'll follow democratic ways. We are not 'Godse wale' but 'Gandhi wale'," he added.
On Thursday, Patole said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hiked petrol-diesel-gas prices exorbitantly, while farmers have been protesting outside Delhi for the past nearly three months.
However, in the midst of these grave crises, many celebs including Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar, who had raised their voices against the Congress-led UPA Government in the past on various issues, are now absolutely silent, and he cautioned that the party would stop their film shootings/screenings for keeping aloof.
"The Modi regime has hiked fuel prices with petrol going up to Rs 100, domestic cooking gas cylinders up to Rs 800. Life has become miserable for the common masses. Even the farmers are protesting outside Delhi, demanding the revoking of the three new farm laws," Patole said.
"Compared with the rates during the UPA government, the prices of fuel are nearly double now in the 7 years of BJP rule. At that time all these celebs spoke out against the government, but now they are scared of the BJP and keeping mum," Patole said.
(With PTI inputs)
