Priyanka Chopra on the Pakistani artiste ban: You cannot hold them responsible for their religion or nation – watch video

Priyanka Chopra speaks up about the ban imposed on Pakistani artistes like Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan and a few others post the Uri attacks...

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Raees and a few other films have been under controversy since the past couple of week. In the wake of the Uri attacks, IMPPA (Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association) banned all Pakistani artistes including Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Imran Abbas Naqvi, Ali Zafar and the others from working on Indian movies. Since then, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and a few other political bodies have asked for the films that have Pakistani  artistes to be banned, unless the makers replace those actors. This meant Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Raees, Dear Zindagi were suddenly in trouble. Many people from the industry have opposed this ban too, while some have supported it. However, there is one superstar who is not supporting this ban at all. And she is not just an Indian celebrity but a global icon now. Yes, we are talking about Priyanka Chopra. We all know, Priyanka is very outspoken and she always speaks her heart out. So during an interview with Barkha Dutt for NDTV, when PeeCee was asked about what she feels about the band, she gave a really perfect answer! Here’s what she had to say…
Priyanka argued why only artistes were targeted and not other professional, when she said, “Yes, I have read about it. It’s tricky because first of all, artistes and actors are always held responsible for every big, political agenda that happens in the country. Why are only we reflecting it? Why not businesses, why not doctors, why not politicians, why not anyone else except for public people.”
But Priyanka maintained that whatever the government will decide, will be for the safety of the country. As she added, “I am extremely patriotic, so whatever my government decides is important to keep the country safe. I’d go with that. But at the same time, I don’t believe that artistes are a representation of, at least there has not been any actor who has done something which has harmed someone’s life out of malice. So it is a very thin line and when someone need to be hung, the one person which is picked up is an artiste or a public person from the movie business or anything and that to me is not fair. And at the same time, I am appalled by what happened in Uri. We need to stand up and protect our country. We have been an extremely peaceful country for so many centuries. We have never been those kind of people who go out and start wars or fight. We are from the land of Gandhi, so we are all about non-violence, but we need to protect ourselves. There are so many different people, with so many different opinions, so many different religions with different sort of upbringing. So it is a difficult country to govern, but yet we have managed so well.”
However, Priyanka felt that an artiste cannot be responsible for what their country does. As PeeCee told Barkha Dutt, “I remember a quote -‘The artistes religion is nothing but his work.’ That’s all that is. You cannot hold an artiste responsible for their religion or nation. Why aren’t we picking on people who have done something wrong.”
Here’s one when Barkha interrupted her and mentioned, “I am agreeing with you. I think the soldiers who have lost their life in Uri, their family are not concerned with who is acting in Karan Johar‘s next film.”
PeeCee also cut Barkha and mentioned about a very important aspect – that we are losing focus from the central issue. She said, “Or concerned about who is coming into the country and doing a movie or a concert and going away. They all are concerned about their sons and the rest of the soldier’s safety. That needs to be the focus. We always lose our focus and come in to something else, coz it makes noise. and because people talk about it and coz the media carries it. And the press writes about it. It’s not the central point. This is entertainment, it’s a business. People buy a ticket, watch the film for three hours and come back. Done, finish, period.” 
Well, we totally agree with Priyanka… You go girl! What a perfect answer, na? Check out the Priyanka‘s interview with Barkha Dutt in the video right here: