Manoj Muntashir receives flak for calling Mughals ‘dacoits’; celebs react to his ‘hate’ post

Mumbai: Lyricist and poet Manoj Muntashir’s latest video in which he denounced the Mughal rulers has kicked off a storm on social media. In a video titled ‘Whose heir are you? Choose Your Legacy And Your Heroes!’, Muntashir termed Mughal rulers like Akbar and Humayun as ‘glorified dacoits’ and claimed that people were brainwashed over the centuries. He had also asked people to chose their heroes and villains wisely

Muntashir also complained of history being distorted. He complains that when in textbooks, “Ga se Ganesh” was replaced by “Ga se gadha”, there was no outrage. He also questioned the naming of streets after the Mughal kings Akbar, Humayun, and Jehangir.

“The roads leading to our house were named after some glorified dacoits like Akbar, Humayun and Jahangir and we kept on clapping, watching the opportunist leaders cutting the ribbons,” he said.

He further went on to say, “In Chittorgarh, one who killed thirty thousand civilians in the name of jihad was ideal king. The one who held Meena Bazar in front of the Agra Fort was jille ilahi. Jille Ilahi means the shadow of God, which God is this whose shadow is so black? Pick your heroes and villains by rising above caste which has been the tradition of this great country. Who was Ravana? A Brahmin. He was in the direct bloodline of Lord Brahma, but have you seen a Brahmin worshipping Ravana?”

Manoj Muntashir’s controversial video on Mughals

The video which was released on August 24 is surfacing on social media with many popular personalities including Bollywood celebrities reacting to it.

Public personalities react

Director Neeraj Ghaywan called out Manoj Muntashir’s tweet as, “Bigotry laced with casteism!”

Bollywood actor Richa Chadha, who is known for speaking her mind out on various issues, wrote under Ghaywan’s tweet, “Cringe. Bad poetry, unwatchable. Should drop the pen name too. Why profit off of something you so hate.” Journalist Abhishek Baxi wrote, “For a writer/poet, I’d expect better bigotry. This looks like a crowdsourced effort from a WhatsApp group.”

Writer Vaibhav Vishal tweeted, “The man who made a career out of Ishq, Khalish, Mehfooz, Fariyaad, Humsafar and Rashqe Kamar questions our Indo-Islamic legacy, and our education, values and choices,” adding, “Good to see the mask coming off, Manoj. Remove the word “Muntashir” from your name now. Choose your legacy!”

Check out a few more reactions below: