Puri backs working with Pakistani artists.
Mumbai police registered a case against veteran Bollywood actor Om Puri for allegedly insulting Indian soldiers.
Puri, while attending a TV debate on the controversy of banning Pakistani artists working in India, allegedly insulted Indian soldiers.
“Did we force them to join the army? My father was also in the army… We are proud of them (soldiers)… I am asking you: Do you want India and Pakistan to become Israel and Palestine?” Puri said.
The complaint against the actor was filed at Andheri police station in Mumbai.
While expressing his solidarity with Pakistani actors, Puri said that he would continue to work with them. Puri asked the Indian government to cancel the visa of Pakistani actors instead of sending them back.
“I don’t give a damn to Salman Khan or some other Khan… Go to Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and cancel their (Pakistani actors’) visas. Prepare 15-20 people as suicide bombers and send them to Pakistan,” Puri said.
The debate was about the ban on Pakistani actors by a Hindi film producers’ association in the wake of a terrorist attack on an Indian military base in Uri, Kashmir that killed 19 Indian soldiers.
Reacting to Puri’s statement, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit tweeted, “Om Puriji, Pak artistes banned isn’t a solution, but show of solidarity to our martyrs. We can’t be lighting pyres while continuing to perform with them.”
“Watching him on the TV show and hearing his views related to Indian soldiers was very sad,” said actor Anupam Kher.
Puri, 65, had visited Pakistan in August to promote the Pakistani film Actor in Law, in which he played a key role.