Alarming need for positive thinking in country, says Prasoon Joshi in response to 49 celebrities' letter to PM

Launching a scathing attack on 49 celebrities for writing an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing concern over mob lynching, Central Bureau of Film Certification (CBFC) chairman Prasoon Joshi on Friday said that there was an "alarming need for positive thinking" in the country.

"When the current government is trying to develop the nation, there is a group of people who are only trying to create obstacles. There is an alarming need for positive thinking in the country and our step is against people who are promoting negative thinking in the nation," said Joshi, while speaking to ANI exclusively.

"The few privileged who took this country for granted are in absolute denial about several changes that the country is going through. They are ungraciously refusing to acknowledge the mandate of the people of India," he said.

Joshi said that there are people from the creative fraternity who take undue advantage of their position and trying to create false narratives.

"There are a few people who are more privileged to raise a voice, know the lexicon of the elite world and also know how to put their ideas forward, are taking serious advantage of it at a juncture where they really need to be very responsible," he said.

"You cannot stir up negative emotions among the people. They are trying to exploit the vulnerability of the people. Their mindset reflects -- We know better what is the best for the country than the people who think what the best is for them," Joshi added.

Prasoon requested these celebrities to use their "energies constructively." "We really need creators and contributors at this juncture in India," he said.

On July 23, 49 celebrities wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Modi demanding that "exemplary punishment" should be meted out "swiftly and surely" in lynching cases. The letter, which also highlighted 'Jai Shri Ram' as becoming a "provocative war-cry" in the present day, carried the signatures of among others Anurag Kashyap, Mani Ratnam, and Shyam Benegal.

However, on July 26, another open letter titled - 'Against Selective Outrage and False Narratives' - by 62 celebrities including classical dancer Sonal Mansingh, termed those who wrote an open letter on mob-lynchings as "self-styled guardians and conscience keepers.