Naseeruddin Shah has a message for those ‘cheering Taliban’s return’

Naseeruddin Shah, one of India’s finest actors, has criticised “sections of Indian Muslims celebrating the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan”.

In a video, the actor drew distinctions between “Hindustani Islam” and versions of the religion practised in other parts of the world.

“Even as the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan is a cause for concern for the whole world, celebrations of the barbarians by some sections of Indian Muslims is no less dangerous,” Naseeruddin Shah said in the video, shared widely on social media.

He said those who are celebrating the revival of the Taliban should question themselves “if they want a reformed, modern Islam (jiddat pasandi modernity), or live with the old barbarism (vahshipan) of the past few centuries”.

Naseeruddin Shah also differentiated between what he called “Hindustani Islam” and what is actually practised in other parts of the world. “May God not bring a time when it changes so much that we cannot even recognise it. He mentioned his own personal relationship with God, and that he doesn’t need political religion. “I am an Indian Muslim and as Mirza Ghalib said years ago, my relationship with God is informal. I don’t need political religion,” he said.

Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan on August 15 after seizing control from government forces across the country, as the United States was in the middle of the withdrawing from the country.