New Delhi: Actor Swara Bhasker is once again in the spotlight after recalling her reaction to the Supreme Court’s 2019 Ayodhya verdict. In a recent conversation, the actor said she was deeply upset with the judgment and felt that it was unfair.
Swara also revealed that after the verdict, she reached out to several Muslim friends and acquaintances to express her feelings. Interestingly, she named Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan while recalling the people she had messaged.
Her remarks have once again triggered a heated debate on social media, with reactions divided between those criticising her views and those defending her right to express her opinion.
Swara Bhasker recalls her reaction to the 2019 verdict
Recalling the period after the Supreme Court judgment, Swara said she was extremely disturbed by the decision. According to her, she felt that the verdict was unfair and struggled to understand what was happening in the country.
She said she wanted her Muslim friends to know that, as a Hindu, she personally did not agree with the judgment.
The actor claimed that she messaged several Muslim people from her phonebook and expressed her regret. While describing those conversations, she mentioned Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan, along with Fahad Ahmad.
The revelation about the messages has become one of the most discussed aspects of her latest comments.
Why did Swara say she apologised?
Swara explained that her messages were driven by her personal reaction to the verdict and her concern about how her Muslim friends might feel about the judgment.
She said she wanted to tell them that she was sorry and that she did not agree with the decision.
Her comments have since been interpreted differently by different sections of social media. Critics have questioned why she felt the need to apologise for a Supreme Court judgment, while supporters have defended her right to disagree with a judicial decision.
What happened in the Ayodhya case?
The Supreme Court delivered its landmark judgment in the Ayodhya title dispute on November 9, 2019.
A five-judge Constitution Bench unanimously ruled that the disputed site in Ayodhya would be handed over for the construction of a Ram temple. The court also directed the Centre to provide five acres of alternative land to the Sunni Waqf Board for the construction of a mosque.
The judgment brought a legal conclusion to a dispute that had continued for decades.
Importantly, the Supreme Court also observed that the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 was contrary to the law.
Swara had faced a contempt controversy earlier
This is not the first time Swara Bhasker’s comments on the Ayodhya verdict have attracted controversy.
In 2020, her remarks about the Supreme Court judgment led to a request seeking permission to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against her.
However, then Attorney General K.K. Venugopal declined to grant consent for initiating contempt proceedings. The decision meant that criminal contempt proceedings against the actor were not initiated on that basis.
The episode nevertheless became part of the wider debate surrounding Swara’s outspoken views on political and social issues.
Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir’s names become the talking point
While Swara’s comments about the Ayodhya verdict are not new, the mention of Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan has given the latest discussion a fresh angle.
All three actors are among the most prominent names in Indian cinema, and Swara’s claim that she had reached out to them after the verdict has attracted considerable attention online.
The discussion has also revived conversations around Bollywood celebrities expressing political opinions and the intense public scrutiny they face when they speak about sensitive issues.
Social media reaction divided
The reaction to Swara’s comments has been sharply divided.
Some users have criticised the actor and questioned her interpretation of the Ayodhya judgment. Others have argued that disagreeing with a court verdict is not, by itself, unusual and that public figures are entitled to express their personal opinions within the law.
The controversy has also brought some of Swara’s earlier political statements back into online discussions.
Did Swara oppose the Ram Temple?
There is an important distinction to be made here.
Swara’s latest comments describe her personal disagreement with the 2019 Supreme Court judgment. That should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that she had launched a legal campaign against the construction of the Ram Temple.
Her comments were about how she personally reacted to the court’s decision and how she communicated those feelings to people she knew.
From the 2019 verdict to the Ram Temple inauguration
Following the Supreme Court verdict, the process for constructing the Ram Temple in Ayodhya moved forward.
The temple construction was subsequently undertaken, and the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla was held on January 22, 2024.
The Ayodhya dispute therefore remains one of the most consequential legal, political and social issues in contemporary India.
Against that backdrop, Swara’s decision to revisit her reaction to the 2019 verdict has once again brought the subject into the entertainment news cycle.
Why Swara Bhasker’s statement is making headlines now
Swara Bhasker has frequently been in the news for her outspoken views on political and social issues. Her latest comments have attracted attention not only because of her criticism of the 2019 verdict, but also because she specifically mentioned Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan while discussing the messages she sent after the judgment.
The statement has consequently reignited an old debate about the Ayodhya verdict, freedom of expression and the role of Bollywood celebrities in political and social conversations.
For now, the key point remains that Swara was describing her own reaction to the 2019 judgment, while the Supreme Court’s verdict itself remains a separate legal matter that brought the decades-old title dispute to an end.