BJP speaks of protecting Christians, but protests against Jesus's statue: Javed Akhtar

Javed Akhtar lashed out at the people protesting against the construction of a statue of Jesus Christ in Karnataka. Speaking about the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, Akhtar said, "They boast they will give citizenship to all the religiously persecuted Christians from the neighbour countries at the same time they claim that they will not allow a statue of Jesus Christ in Banglore [sic]."

The eminent lyricist referred to the recently amended Citizenship Act that provides for citizenship to members of six religious communities from three neighbouring countries, excluding the Muslim community. Christian community is included among the list of communities that can avail of the benefit under the amended act.

Javed Akhtar used the government's defence of the Citizenship Amendment Act to target the BJP and its ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh both of which, among other right-wing groups, held a protest on Monday against the proposal to construct a statue of Jesus Christ in Karnataka's Kanakapura.

The statute is supposed to come up in Harobele, a village where Christians have been living for 400 years. The village falls under Congress leader DK Shivakumar, who is the MLA from Kanakapura. The construction of the statue has begun already.

The statue is proposed to be 114-foot high, making it taller than the famed Christ The Redeemer statue in Rio Di Janeiro, Brazil.