Give peace a chance: Celina Jaitley

Bollywood has joined the rest of the world in silent prayer that Egypt gets to see a shift in power without too much violence.

The first one to react is actor Celina Jaitly, the brand ambassador for the Egyptian Tourism Board. The actor  was reportedly getting ready to get married to her beau Peter Hagg in Egypt.

“Egypt is changing... Whatever happens next will impact the future of all Egyptians in a big way… my prayers are that the final outcome be of a positive nature. Hope they can avert violence and radicalisation, which will enable Egyptians to grow further,” says the actor.

Celina says that she is keenly following the developments in Egypt over the television. “My heart goes out to all my Egyptian friends and colleagues...for the winds of change are trying to cover a gap of 30 years in three days,” adds Celina in a text.

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who enjoys an immense following in the region, also reiterates that the primary agenda is to give peace a chance.

“All my visits there have been so memorable and full of so many happy times. When shooting in Cairo for The Great Gambler in 1975, they did not know anything about Indian films and actors. On the streets, if India was mentioned it was always ‘Nehru’ — their known association with him and their own president (Gamal Abdel) Nasser and the relationship that they enjoyed,” he blogged.

Mahesh Bhatt also wonders over the fate of the Pyramid country, “It is not at all clear what will happen in the Egyptian revolution. Mubarak has been president ever since the assassination of Anwar Sadat.”

Says actor Rahul Bose, “Mubarak (President Hosni Mubarak) has to go. Democracy does not mean just elections, it also stands for free speech and governance. Perhaps Egypt will have to go through more before it is truly free. My wishes are with the Egyptians for the tough times that lie ahead.