The Hindu : Front Page : “If you feel I am guilty put me in jail”

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Monday, Aug 13, 2007
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“If you feel I am guilty put me in jail”

My job is to be in front of the camera and work in films, says Amitabh

Amitabh Bachchan

NEW DELHI: Actor Amitabh Bachchan has said that the problems he faced over acquiring farmland in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra were due to politics and dared the government to put him in jail if it felt he was guilty of any wrongdoing.“If the media and the State and the system feel that I have no right to own the land, there’s a problem about it, they can have it. They are going to put me in jail. What are they going to get out of it? I will go to jail,” he told a television channel in an interview.

“Finally, if they think I am guilty, what are they going to get? Imprisonment will not affect me as I will not contest elections or become a Chief Minister, Prime Minister or President.”

“I am just an actor,” asserted Mr. Bachchan.

Mr. Bachchan said: “I had a certificate from the District Magistrate in Barabanki confirming that this land is mine. This certificate was required [for] the land that I was purchasing in Bhavna here in Maharashtra. I submitted that to [officials], they studied it and they gave me a possession document.

“Two or three years later, they suddenly said the certificate is wrong. How does anyone function in a situation like this? So every time there is a change of government, everything that has passed before, or any documentation that has been given to you as permission to continue doing your work, has to stop.”

He refuted allegations that he fudged records to prove he was a farmer so that he could buy land in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

“If owning agricultural land is also classifying you as a farmer, then stop mocking me because there are millions of people who own agricultural land and do not necessarily go down on their hands and knees and till the earth,” he said. “I don’t like the way I am being accused. My job is to be in front of the camera and work in films. That’s the only job I know.”

Mr. Bachchan did not believe that he was being targeted because of his association with Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh. He pointed out that he was “hounded” for the Bofors scam even when his “friend” Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.

“I’m happy that I fought, I’m happy that I cleared my name, I’m happy that I fought single-handed against the government and defeated them.”— PTI

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