Government does not support boycotting Chhapaak: BJP's Prakash Javadekar

Narendra Modi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) don't support calls made to boycott Deepika Padukone's film Chhapaak, stated senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday.

The comment comes a day before Chhapaak's release after boycott calls made by various right-wing groups and few BJP leaders.

Speaking on the issue, the Union Minister said, "The BJP and the Modi government don't believe in issuing boycott calls against people."

Asked about some BJP leaders criticising Deepika Padukone, he said "If people have the freedom to say something, similarly these leaders also have a right to speak their minds," Prakash Javadekar said.

On Tuesday, two days after a mob of masked men armed with rods and canes barged into JNU hostels and beat up students and teachers, Deepika Padukone visited the university and expressed her solidarity with the protesting JNU students. Since then, many leaders in the BJP and the party's supporters have been criticising her action and some have given a boycott call against her film Chhapaak that releases on Friday. I

Speaking on who attacked the students, Javdekar said, "Investigation will reveal who was behind the violence in JNU. There is a no climate of discontent against the Modi government. There is a calibrated attempt to whip passions by spreading misinformation," Prakash Javdekar claimed.