Naseeruddin Shah: Actor creates stir with Taliban comments

The 71-year old actor's comments have generated a lot of debate on social media in India

Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah has created a stir over comments he made about the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

In a video, Shah criticised "some sections of Indian Muslims" who he said had celebrated the group's victory.

He said they were setting a dangerous precedent, before criticising what he called "old barbarism" within Islam.

His comments irked some Muslims in India who took issue with the actor's comments on social media.

But many supporters of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) praised Mr Shah and said more Muslims should speak up against the Taliban.

Speaking in Urdu, the 71-year-old actor said that those celebrating the return of the militant group in Afghanistan should ask themselves "if they want a reformed, modern Islam or live with the old barbarism of the past decades".

The Taliban enforced a strict version of Islamic law when they controlled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. They permitted public executions and banned women from schools and workplaces.

Shah said that "Hindustani" or Indian Islam has always been unique and different from the rest of the world, adding that he hoped "God will not bring a time when it changes so much that we cannot even recognise it".

"I am an Indian Muslim... and my relationship with God is informal. I do not need a political religion," he added.

Journalist Saba Naqvi called Shah's comments "a trap and a binary" - one that unnecessarily put the onus of disowning the Taliban on Indian Muslims.

"Why are so many Indian Muslims sitting up and being asked to condemn [the] Taliban? Did they choose, elect or invite the Taliban?" she wrote on Twitter.

Journalist and commentator Aditya Menon said the "actor's rant was unnecessary" and "ill-advised".

"At a time when Indian Muslims are facing [an] economic boycott, mob violence [and] police atrocities, the last thing they need is a prominent voice adding to the bogey that Taliban mentality could take over the community. There's no such threat," he added.

Critics have repeatedly raised concerns about the increasing marginalisation of India's 200 million Muslims. Many of them have been victims of discrimination and hate crimes - a trend which critics say has intensified since 2014 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

However, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, a staunch supporter of the BJP government, lauded Shah for speaking out against the "inhuman and barbaric Taliban".

"I hope more and more educated and creative Muslims, especially from Bollywood, speak against these enemies of humanity," he added.

On 15 August, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan almost 20 years after they were ousted by a US-led military coalition.

It came after the Islamist militants launched a nationwide offensive as foreign forces withdrew from the country.