Protest Outside Amitabh Bachchan's House For 'Endorsing Mumbai Metro At Aarey Forest's Cost'
Activists protested outside Amitabh Bachhans house after one of his recent tweets was taken as an endorsement for cutting Aarey forest to make way for Mumbai Metro construction. The protests came after Bachchans post about his friend taking a metro train during an emergency. A video came later that showed that policemen were trying to disperse the protesters from there.
Activists protested outside Amitabh Bachhan's house after one of his recent tweets was taken as an endorsement for cutting Aarey forest to make way for Mumbai Metro construction. A video came later that showed that policemen were trying to disperse the protesters from there.
Watch video: Protest outside #AmitabhBachchan bungalow on Thursday, to save Aarey took an ugly turn When police started arresting the students who were squatting on the road and shouting slogan.#SaveAareyForest #AareyForest pic.twitter.com/pM5nYKPq2g
¡ª Mumbai Press (@MumbaiPressNews) September 19, 2019
The protests came after Bachchan's post about his friend taking a metro train during an emergency.
Two Bollywood influencers @SrBachchan and @akshaykumar have shared their experiences with Mumbai Metro rides. Interestingly, They have tweeted about #AareyForest yet. You get it? pic.twitter.com/MXL4QOGXx9
¡ª Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 18, 2019
"Friend of mine had a medical emergency, decided to take METRO instead of his car... came back very impressed.. said was faster, convenient and most efficient.. Solution for Pollution... Grow more trees.. I did in my garden, have you," Bachchan had tweeted on Tuesday.
T 3290 - Friend of mine had a medical emergency, decided to take METRO instead of his car .. came back very impressed .. said was faster, convenient and most efficient .. ?
¡ª Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) September 17, 2019
Solution for Pollution ..
Grow more trees .. I did in my garden .. have you ??
Reacting to his comment Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Akhil Chitre reminded the actor that "In 2010, Amitabh Bachchan was opposing the metro just because his privacy was getting hampered. But within a few years, after the change of government, his views changed."
BCCL
"I do not know what deal he has done with the current government. His views may also have changed because of the change of route of the metro. It is very sad when people across Mumbai are protesting against the cutting of trees in Aarey forest, he is tweeting in favour of metro construction there," he told ANI.
On Wednesday, a group of environmentalists also held a protest outside the residence of the actor. They alleged that the government and their friends are trying various ways to divert attention from the current conversation about Aarey into many other directions.
They also reminded him that 'not everyone has a garden to plant a tree. His statement reeks of ignorance and privilege and that Mumbai has very few open spaces and Aarey is one of them. Which is why it is important for us to preserve it.
They also said that "a garden cannot replace a forest, and a metro car shed at any other place will serve the same purpose that Bachchan in his tweet, and in his ad had promoted.
They even invited him to visit Aarey.
"As a respected and influential citizen, we expect him to understand the problem and help us with getting a solution that is a win-win for all. We are not completely blaming Mr. Bachchan either, as it is very possible that he has been misled about the metro 3 car shed and may not know all the facts. We would love to speak to him and convey to him the truth about it," they said.
Meanwhile, people from different walks of like flayed the city police for dealing with the peaceful protesters like that.
Aren¡¯t the no of police personnel and force being exerted completely out of proportion to the number of protesters and the manner in which they were protesting @MumbaiPolice Is this how Sweden & the rest of the world treats @GretaThunberg for example? Tragic. https://t.co/C8E3WpIF4D
¡ª Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) September 19, 2019
While @SrBachchan wags his tail in front of the Govt, advocating chopping off Aarey forest, innocent students protesting outside his house are beaten black & blue by Police.
¡ª Gaurav Pandhi ???? ????? (@GauravPandhi) September 19, 2019
These capitalist frauds should be locked in jail for ever to keep our environment clean! https://t.co/ZvU7y5f11g
Aarey Forest in Mumbai, Aravalli hills in Gurgaon, the Bullet Train project¡ destroying green cover for ¡°development¡± is going to have devastating consequences. It¡¯s time we strike back. Join the #GlobalClimateStrikeIndia in your city from Sep 20-27. #ChangeIsComing
¡ª manoj bajpayee (@BajpayeeManoj) September 19, 2019
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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