Filmmaker Farhan Akhtar (Bollywood Hungama/Wikimedia Commons)
Filmmaker Farhan Akhtar (Bollywood Hungama/Wikimedia Commons) 
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After Social Media Criticism, Farhan Akhtar ‘Regrets’ Sharing India’s Distorted Map While Fuelling Anti-CAA Protests

BySwarajya Staff

Actor and Filmmaker Farhan Akhtar on Wednesday (18 December) expressed ‘regret’ for sharing a distorted map of India as part of his clarion call for protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Akhtar who had earlier dubbed a social media user as a bigot for asking him to condemn the violence meted out by anti-CAA protesters, tweeted this in the morning.

While sharing an anti-CAA leaflet Akhtar announced his participation in the protest in Mumbai on 19 August.

This message soon stirred up controversy as the leaflet which Akhtar shared, contained a distorted map of India, which omitted parts of Ladakh.

Distorted map of India in the leaflet shared by Farhan Akhtar 

Following this tweet, Akhtar was criticised by various social media users for sharing a distorted map of the country.

This backlash resulted in Akhtar issuing a clarification for not noticing India’s distorted map earlier and apologised for the same.

Incidentally, while he has now apologised for sharing the distorted map, he has not yet proceeded to delete his original tweet.

The poster shared by Akhtar also spreads additional fake news about “Indian Muslims” being declared stateless due to CAA and NRC. It also falsely alleges that NRC-CAA will exclude transgenders, atheists, women, tribals and the landless.