Don't box all Muslims as one: Shabana Azmi

March 14, 2017 19:01

Shabana Azmi has warned against painting all Muslims as one for "narrow political gains", saying it would negate the complex layers of culture in shaping a person's identity.

Addressing an event in the UK Parliament complex, she said, "Do not box me, do not try to restrict me in the desire 'to integrate'. For narrow political gain do not polarise the atmosphere and force people to create a 'model community' a model community of either women, dalits, tribals or any other label that can be used to make me feel like 'the other'".

The 66-year-old actor and activist is on a UK tour with her one-woman play 'Broken Images' to mark the 10th anniversary of arts organisation Baithak UK and film 'Chalk

and Duster', which is screening at the annual Tongues on Fire: London Asian Film Festival.

"If you ask me who I am, I will say Im a woman, an Indian, a daughter, wife, actress, Muslim, activist etc - my being Muslim is only one of the aspects of who I am but all over the world it seems as though a concerted effort is being made to compress identity into the narrow confines of the religion I happen to have been born into at the exclusion of all other aspects of my identity," she added.

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