Kolkata: Actors, directors and musicians from West Bengal have come together in a video against the contentious citizenship law and NRC, asserting that they would not show any document if there is a bid by the Centre to submit fresh proof of citizenship.
“Kagoj amra dekhabona (We won’t show papers),” actors Dhritiman Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Konkona Sen Sharma, Nandana Sen and Swastika Mukherjee; director Suman Mukhopadhyay and singer Rupam Islam are among the 12 personalities who can be heard saying the line in Bengali.
The video, which went viral on social media Monday, carries the similar tagline as comedian Varun Grover’s defiant Hindi poem, Hum Kagaz Nahin Dikhayenge (We won’t show papers)”.
“Some of us felt concerned about the situation happening around us,” Chatterjee said. “We thought we must do something to register our protests through social media as it can be the most powerful tool.”
“We felt the need to do something urgently,” Chatterjee said as he pointed out to the way students and people from different walks of life were uniting without any political platform and hitting the streets everyday against the “effort” to “divide” the society.
In the video, Chatterjee is heard saying “Mandir noy, masjid noy, desh jure chai azaadi” (not temples, not mosques, we want freedom across country).”
Konkona Sen Sharma, daughter of ace filmmaker Aparna Sen, mouthed the lines: “You cannot survive by dividing people across religious lines, we won’t show papers).
Actor Sabyasachi Chakraborty said: “Sashok asbe, sashok jabe, kagoj amra dekhabo na (Rulers will come and go, but we won’t show papers).”
There has been nationwide protests against the amended Citizenship Act, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) since last month after the Centre passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament.
“We had been holding discussions since last week of December and the video was uploaded this morning,” Chatterjee said.
“We are happy with the response to the video on social network. It is a collective effort involving many youngsters as well,” the veteran actor said, adding that said more such videos were in the pipeline.
Director Suman Mukhopadhyay said the students and people of the country had shown the way of protest. “We urge every citizen to not follow the diktat of those who drafted the CAA and the NRC. Refuse to show fresh identity proof if you are asked as part of the CAA exercise.”
In the video, Mukhopadhyay is seen saying: “150 crore Indians asking today for basic necessities, they are not interested in caste and community.”
Actor Swastika Mukherjee said: “With love and rebellion in our hearts, we will never back out from protests out of fear.” Amid the chorus of many voices, “won’t show papers” is displayed in many languages.
The video ends with the message: “No CAA, No NRC, NO NRC” and “Resist Now”.
PTI