Chhapaak singled out on CAA stir

New Delhi: A day after actor Deepika Padukone visited Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University to meet students and teachers, who were attacked by a masked mob last week, the BJP released a video with statements from celebs supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA.

Deepika Padukone is the first Bollywood A-lister to visit JNU after the mob attack.

The BJP's video, shared on social media on Wednesday afternoon, features singer Shaan, actors Tanisha Mukerji and Ranvir Shorey and director Anil Sharma, among others.

It comes days after Union Minister Piyush Goyal and BJP vice president Baijayant Jay Panda hosted a dinner in Mumbai for several Bollywood celebrities to discuss the CAA, which fast-tracks the process of giving citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims from three neighbouring countries. The meet was reportedly skipped by many top stars.

"The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 does not affect any Indian citizen. Watch what the artists have to say about CAA," BJP wrote while sharing the video.

The Congress slammed the BJP for criticising Padukone's JNU visit, and wondered if the Bollywood star should visit Nagpur (RSS headquarters) "to promote her film".

Many Twitter users posted against her with the hashtag #BoycottChhapaak. Padukone's film Chaapaak, based on the story of an acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, is all set to hit the screens on Friday.

In a bid to contribute to the trending hashtag, many Twitter users shared screenshots of their cancelled tickets. The only catch was that they all were canceling the same seats in the same halls.

While some leaders called her visit as promotional activity for her upcoming flick ''Chhapaak'', others supported her for her stand on the issue of violence on JNU campus.

DMK MP Kanimozhi is the one who extended her support to the actress for standing by the students protesting against the attack by masked mob on Sunday inside the campus.

BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussein said she should have taken "proper cognisance of violence" and her show of solidarity with Leftist organisations reflected her "one-sided thinking".

Condemning Ms Padukone's visit to JNU, BJP leader Ram Kadam said it was "unfortunate" and that she should have visited the place with "an agenda of national interest".

"An actor should be an actor. It seems like she was the spokesperson of a political party," he told reporters.