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Kher on Campus: Walk on Path of Truth rooted in Hinduism and Dismantle the Misinformation

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New Delhi. Veteran actor Anupam Kher with his new initiative ‘Kher on Campus’ interacted with students from Princeton University in an event hosted by Association of South Asians in Princeton and Lead India group on campus. The event was organized to celebrate India’s 75th Independence Day through spirited interactions between students and Kher.

In his discussion with Tanujaya Saha, PhD candidate at Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kher emphasized the importance of being an ambassador for India globally, focusing on relaying messages of unity in diversity, cultural cohesiveness and hit out at attempts to tarnish the image of the country.

Kher began the session entitled. The Road Not Taken by recounting his humble beginnings as the son of a forest officer in Himachal Pradesh, when he learned the joy and importance of a large family. “When you are poor, happiness is the cheapest luxury,” he noted.

He touted the achievements of the country, including the emergence of Indians- Indra Nooyi, Sundar Pichai, and others as leaders in every field. Kher also spoke about the film industry as a means of bridging divides between countries and cultures. He recounted chanting “Bharat Mata ki Jai” before acting performances to remind himself he was representing all of India in his acting, an extra motivation to show his home country as stridently capable.

A major theme of the evening, the actor also fielded many questions about Hinduphobia and motivated attempts to malign Hindu people as violent and India as backwards. In response to one of the Princeton University students on stereotyping Indian people as retrograde and exotic, Kher noted that these colonial stereotypes persist because of the “ignorance of others,” and that Indians would never do this to other civilizations because we were “the most large-hearted people.”

The actor was far harsher on those from within India who fearmonger about Hindu people and traditions; he lamented this was being done “by our own

people.” While answering a question about the upcoming “Dismantling Global Hindutva (DGH) Conference” and its blatant Hinduphobia, Kher compared the organizers’ desperate attempts to a crazed individual insisting you have a different name, which can only be “laughed at.”

As a Kashmiri Pandit, Kher was particularly dismissive of the scholars’ denial of mass anti-Hindu violence and trauma. He rejected their attempts to define Hinduism on behalf of a billion people, likening the anti-Hindu event’s organizers to those who demotivated him in his early days in the film industry as a “bald and thin guy” who got roles as he was sycophantic to his directors.

Just as his continued success shut up his critics, the actor was confident that India’s continuous growth will discredit these academics and their collaborators. “The truth has a way of finding its way out in the open,” he opined.

The former Chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) drew connections between this event and recent developments in Indian politics. For instance, he lashed out at Indian National Congress leaders who had tried to label the 26/11 Mumbai Terrorist Attack as an event of Hindu Terror. Drawing on the supposed desperation of the organizers of the DGH conference to “get noticed,” Kher urged the audience to respond to them with “amusement” and not fall into their trap of reacting to their provocations. Kher’s bigger message to the Princeton student community was to believe in the rooted culture and value system of Indian civilization. His further enforced that in this era of misinformation and malice intent, just keep walking on the path of truth, and you will shine.

 

Link to video of event – https://www.facebook.com/anupamkherofficial/videos/2908948036022897/

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