Mumbai: Contrary to reports, Hindi film actor Parineeti Chopra was not removed as the face of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme as her association with the campaign expired two years ago, a spokesperson for the actor said Sunday.
The actor, who hails from Haryana’s Ambala, was named the brand ambassador of the Manohar Lal Khattar government’s campaign in 2015.
“Parineeti Chopra’s association with the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ Campaign in Haryana expired as of April 2017. There is no truth to these speculations and we request you to kindly refrain from reporting the same,” a spokesperson for the actor said in a statement.
There were reports Parineeti was dropped from the campaign after she criticised police crackdown against students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The actor called the police action on students ‘barbaric’.
“If this is what’s gonna happen everytime a citizen expresses their view, forget #CAB, we should pass a bill and not call our country a democracy anymore! Beating up innocent human beings for speaking their mind? Barbaric,” she tweeted on December 17.
Several Hindi cinema celebrities have voiced their disappointment over the Act on social media.
The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian refugees from the neighbouring countries — Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.
PTI