Hansal Mehta: I am worried for my family’s safety

After Vivek Agnihotri’s frontal attack on fellow-filmmaker Hansal Mehta where the former has accused the latter of being pro-Muslim and (therefore) anti-Hindu, Hansal says he is worried for his family’s safety.

In his tirade against Hansal in an interview given to this writer, Vivek has even accused Hansal of being pro-Muslim as his wife is a Muslim.

The war of words between the two filmmakers started when Vivek Agnihotri referred to Shaheen Bagh as “an Islamist conversion centre and a hideout for all kinds of criminals like pickpockets, mobile thieves, drug-peddlers”.

Mehta replied to Agnihotri with stinging advice to convert to Islam which has the Twitter kingdom in a state of outrage. “Unfortunately Twitter has become a haven for hate-mongering cowards like you. I sincerely hope you get converted to Islam and you get to understand what the religion really stands for. In fact, I wish you’d first understand Hinduism so that you do not continue tarnishing it.”

Reacting with sharp sadness Hansal Mehta says, “I feel sad that Vivek has reacted this way. Particularly with getting my family into this. Also the context of my tweet and what it was in response to has been totally mutilated in the rabid trolling by establishment stooges including Vivek. And that is precisely the problem. These people have created unrest by twisting narratives and by antagonizing people in the name of religion. I love my work and I love my country. And I am a proud Hindu who respects all religions and totally condemns all this hate-mongering band constant fear that we bare being subjected to. Fear and hate have become the new magic trick for people who are not doing their job.”

Hansal admits he is concerned about the welfare of his loved ones. “I do worry about the safety of my family particularly when we are going through such toxic times. Twitter by ignoring threats and allowing all these sponsored trolls who threaten you can be said to be complicit in this. Most of these trolls are nameless, faceless accounts belonging to the IT cell of a political / ideological unit whose job it is to troll, suppress, threaten and abuse dissenting voices. The truth is that these accounts are harmless because most of them are not real people. But the greater danger is from the units that control these robots and who are nothing but terrorists in the guise of spiritual/ideological/political leaders who unfortunately have wrested power from a hapless population.”