Piyush Mishra has questioned veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah over what he describes as selective activism. The actor recently shared a video on social media in which he addressed Naseeruddin’s meeting with Abhijeet Dipke during The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park. The protesters had gathered demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.In the video, Piyush questioned Naseeruddin’s silence on the Jharkhand student protest and an incident at Lovely Professional University (LPU), while speaking out in support of the CJP protest. He also asked the veteran actor why he had not commented on Flydubai pilot Captain Smit Machchhar’s bravery after the pilot was praised for saving passengers during an in-flight attack.Addressing Naseeruddin directly, Piyush said, “Naseer Sahib, I offer my regards. I am Piyush Mishra, an old acquaintance of yours. It was great to see you meet Abhijeet Dipke. Sir, an accident was averted recently. This happened on a Fly Dubai Flight 1073, a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. In this, Mr Smith Machchhar showed bravery and saved the lives of 180 people. Please comment on this as well, congratulate the captain, he will feel nice.”Piyush then brought up the situation at LPU and asked Naseeruddin to extend his support to the students there as well. He said, “Secondly, sir, please send a message to Lovely Professional University (LPU) students. They study there too and a very dangerous incident has happened there. Girls were dragged down by the police by their hair. There was a fight. You made a comment — that the students have taught you more that what National School of Drama or FTII taught you — I didn’t understand this statement of yours. I don’t know since when did students became acting teachers. Please disclose the same. However, LPU also faced an equally dangerous incident. So, please offer your thoughts to those students as well and send a message to them.”The actor also recalled his own involvement in a student protest in Jharkhand, claiming that he had sought Naseeruddin’s help at the time but did not receive the support he was expecting. Piyush appeared to contrast the response to the CJP protest with the alleged lack of support for students protesting in Jharkhand over alleged irregularities in government examinations.Taking a dig at the support extended to the CJP protesters, Piyush referred to reports of people from different parts of the country sending food to those participating in the protest. Comparing this with the Jharkhand agitation, he said, “Third, Sir, I asked you for help for Jharkhand, and you sent me a poem by a Pakistani poet. Sorry sir, they didn’t want poems by poets there. They wanted flour, lentils, bread, jaggery and more. They didn’t want pizza or burgers.”Piyush ended his video by making it clear that he intends to respond to Naseeruddin’s public statements in the future. He said, “Now, whenever you make a statement, you’ll get a response from Piyush Mishra.”The exchange comes against the backdrop of an earlier disagreement over Naseeruddin’s comments on celebrities and their response to protests. During the NEET protests in Delhi, the veteran actor had questioned Bollywood celebrities for remaining silent on the issue. Speaking to The Wire, Naseeruddin Shah had said, “Celebrities will speak when their conscience tells them to do so. There’s a saying that a dog with a bone in its mouth cannot bark. As soon as the bone falls from its mouth or its teeth break, then it will bark.”
