India
The noted Bangladeshi writer said since the Bollywood actress was at ease with the incident nobody has the right to challenge her freedom to choose.
Updated : Nov 19, 2013, 11:17 PM IST
BHOPAL: Dubbing as "fundamentalists" the protestors against Hollywood actor Richard Gere kissing Shilpa Shetty, noted Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen said since the Bollywood actress was at ease with the incident nobody has the right to challenge her freedom to choose.
"Who are those staging the protest? Are they the cultural police? This is democracy....Everybody has the right to choose and to express themselves", Nasreen said.
"It is totally okay. If she had got angry, things would have been different. She was enjoying it. What is the problem?" the writer said, adding Shilpa did nothing wrong and the protests from "fundamentalist" groups were unwarranted and nobody had the right to challenge her freedom.
Gere had kissed Shilpa and held her in his arms at an AIDS awareness function in New Delhi on Sunday night, evoking sharp reaction from some quarters and protests by several groups seeking an "apology for hurting the sentiments of Indian people".