Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra said Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar and Naseruddin Shah are the sleeper cells of the tukde-tukde gang after actor Shabana Azmi broke down during a television interview while talking about the release of the 11 convicts of the Bilkis Bano rape case. “The case is..this Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar and Naseruddin Shah are sleeper cells of the tukde tukde gang. They did not say anything to the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan. In Jharkhand, our daughter has been set on fire. But did they say anything? Only when something happens in BJP-ruled states, they issue statements,” Narottam Mishra said.
“It is when something happenes in BJP-ruled states that Naseruddin Shah gets scared to stay in this country. Then there is this award-wapsi gang who will become active and scream their lungs out. How can they claim to be secular. Now everyone knows the truth of these persons,” the home minister said.
In an interview, Shabana Azmi broke down and said she had no words for the silence that followed after the release of the gangrape convicts on August 15. “Shouldn’t we be shouting from the rooftops so that justice is done to this person? And the women who are feeling unsafe in this country, women who face the threat of rape everyday – shouldn’t they get some sense of security? What do I answer my children, my grandchildren? What can I say to Bilkis? I am ashamed,” the actor said.
The release of the convicts drew nationwide outrage and the issue reached the Supreme Court which sought a response from the Gujarat government.