The who's who of cinema world gathered to be witness of the return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and formation of his new cabinet at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on May 30 after BJP witnessed a spectacular victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In its aftermath, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who was one of the 600 artistes who had signed a letter urging people to "vote BJP and its allies out of power", stated that although the PM's speech was "full of hope", he knows better than to take things at face value. "I wish Modi implements what he said. The problem isn't just with the man at the top, but at multiple levels beneath him. People convolute his ideas to serve their interests. Religion can't be used as an excuse to settle a personal score. There is a culture of hate, and only the PM can take that away. He has to not just say it in a speech, but take active measures to eradicate it. Stern measures have to pass down the hierarchy against prejudices," he told a leading daily.

Not to forget, Anurag Kashyap recently filed an FIR against a social media user who threatened to rape his daughter after raising his concern to PM Modi through a social media post. Although he was relieved to see the outrage against the perpetrator, Anurag mentioned that the atmosphere in the country is unhealthy and feels that it comes from the idea of 'hero worshipping'. "When the PM is tagged on a social media post [and questioned], people retaliate by saying, 'How is he answerable?' The PM is answerable for everything; he is in charge of the system that has to function equally for every citizen," he quipped.

RECOMMENDED READ: There should be a strong law against such miscreants and one word from him will stop these things: Anurag Kashyap on why he tagged PM Modi in his ‘rape and troll’ post

Last but not the least, the filmmaker made a case for free speech and pointed that it is okay to 'agree to disagree'. "As a citizen, I have expectations from the government, and when they are not met, I would want to question, talk and debate. We have to learn to agree to disagree; dissent is sacrosanct. This atmosphere needs to be curtailed where a citizen is afraid of wearing his ideology on his sleeve. For me, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a great PM, but unfortunately, I don't see the same promise anymore," he concluded.

(Source: Mid-Day)