Jaaved Jaaferi apologises for Pulwama comment, says different opinion doesn't make him anti-national

Many Bollywood celebrities including Jaaved Jaaferi had expressed their shock and grief over the  terror attack  in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on 14 February that killed 44 CRPF personnel.

[caption id=“attachment_6118111” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Jaaved Jaaferi. Image from Twitter[/caption] However, Jaaferi received backlash for his views with a follower even asking him to explicitly name Pakistan as the culprit behind the violent attack. According to DNA , in a now deleted tweet, Jaaferi responded by saying, “like extreme right wing religious groups spreading hate and riots in India are not India, Jaish e Mohammed is not Pakistan.” He later apologised for the same and explained that his words had been misinterpreted by his followers.

In a recent interview with news agency Indo-Asian News Service, Jaaferi said, “If my opinion is not similar to that of the popular voice, then calling it anti-national is wrong, and that is certainly not the way the world’s largest democracy can function. Of course, these people who try to impose their opinion on others and suppress the choice of diverse opinion, are minuscule in number, but unfortunately, they are the noisemakers.” He added that he believed in a true democracy where everyone’s voice is heard and difference of opinion co-exists.