Prakash Raj calls Amitabh Bachchan ‘coward’ for silence on Kathua case

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BENGALURU: Noted Karnataka actor and activist Prakash Raj called the Bollywood megastar and his colleague Amitabh Bachchan ‘coward’ over his silence against the brutal gang-rape and murder of the 8-year-old child in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.

Speaking to journalist Barkha Dutt, the 53-year-old actor said, “I requested him. It’s my right. He’s got a wonderful voice. I wanted him to speak up. He just said, ‘I don’t want to speak about it.’ But sir, it’s so dirty that you have speak up. Because Kathua rape to me is not that somebody belonging to a religion didn’t do it. But the reason it was done to threaten a group of people to leave that place. And just because they are from your party, you will go an stand by them. Protest for them. This is not done.”

When asked what he expected from the senior Bachchan to do in response to Kathua rape and murder case, the Singham and Wanted star said, “I wanted him (Bachchan) to say that ‘stop this.’

When asked if he wasn’t worried about taking on perhaps the most iconic name in the Hindi cinema, the award-winning actor said, “It was a request. I feel that as artists we are also a consistence of our society. When artists become coward, we will become the reason for the society to become coward.”

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When the journalist asked if he felt Bachchan was being cowardly, Raj replied, “I think so. What have I got to gain? I respect him for what he (Bachchan) is but I am requesting him to ‘please join hand, it’s important.’ You are not talking against a party. You are talking against an issue, a thought process, which is not right for this country.”

Raj added, “I want to grow up…Why don’t ylou (Bachchan) realise that ylou are rich enough to lose. They asked me ‘Prakash have you lost anything.’ I tell them ‘don’t ask me as an economist. I am rich enough to lose.’”

Earlier, actress Pooja Bhatt has slammed the Big B of Bollywood for his comment on Kathua and Unnao rape cases.

During the song launch event of ‘102 Not Out’ film, Bachchan, the brand ambassador for PM Modi’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign
chided a reporter when asked about his stance on the two rape cases. He quickly replied by saying:

“Mujhe uss vishay par charcha karne mein ghinn aati hai. So uss vishay ko uchhalo mat (I feel disgusted even talking about it. So, don’t rake up this issue). It’s terrible to even talk about it.”