Actor Swara Bhaskar on Saturday extended support to beleaguered activists Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao who were arrested recently for their alleged Maoist-Naxal links.
Speaking at the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC), Swara, known for speaking up on socio-political issues, said, “I do not know the details of the case but as a citizen of this country I find it strange that on one hand we have cases of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, who have run away with thousands of crores of taxpayers’ money, on the other hand, five people who have been speaking up for the poorest of the poor are being unfairly targeted by putting serious charges against them. Most of them were not present at the scene of protest [Bhima-Koregaon violence]. All these dichotomies are strange.”
female actors
On representation of female actors in films, she said: “The situation is fast changing. Earlier in our films, marriage was considered a virtue. Now, we have Anaarkali of Aarah [starring Swara] where the main character is someone who is not considered virtuous by society.”
Swara is often trolled for her views. “I handle by not looking at abusive comments. The first time it happened, I used to get upset. I thought it was unfair. Then I realised that it was occupational hazard. Imagine the kind of abuses and slander big stars would be receiving. If a girl is harassed at a bus stop or in a restaurant, then we would not tolerate. Twitter is also public space so why should we tolerate such behaviour there. We have to fight to keep it clean, decent by saying that it is not okay to cyber bully people.”
