Anupam Kher on Naseeruddin Shah's comments about Bulandshahr violence: 'How much more freedom do you need?'

Reacting to Naseeruddin Shah's recent comments on the Bulandshahr incident which claimed the life of a policeman, his colleague Anupam Kher asked how much more freedom did a person need in a country.

"There is so much freedom in the country that you can abuse the army, badmouth the air chief and pelt stones at the soldiers. How much more freedom do you need in a country?" Kher said as reported by ANI. Kher further added that what Shah said were his personal views, which does not mean it is the truth.

Shah, in a video uploaded by Karwan-e-Mohabbat India (an art collective), touches upon subjects such as mob violence, cow vigilantism and the state of law and order in India. He had also expressed concern for his children, who he said had not been given religious education. He said his children are neither Hindu nor Muslim, and if an angry mob surrounded them about their religion, they would have no answer.

Taking aim at those involved in the Bulandshahr violence, Shah said that the death of a cow had more significance than the death of a cop.

The actor was criticised by several representatives of right-wing groups. Uttar Pradesh's Navnirman Sena president Amit Jani had booked a one-way flight ticket to Karachi for the actor. NDTV writes that BJP leader Mahendra Nath Pandey said Shah was becoming similar to his character in 1999 movie Sarfarosh. Yoga guru Ramdev said that the actor's remarks on mob violence were akin to degrading the country's pride."

The 68-year-old actor was also in the news recently for calling cricketer Virat Kohli the "world's worst behaved player" in a Facebook post.