KATHMANDU: Bollywood actor Abhay Deol has slammed 'woke' Indian celebrities who have remained silent about 'systemic problems' in India but are standing against the racism in America — urging them to follow American lead but not their actions.

Taking to his Instagram on June 3, he posted photo of a handwritten text that reads: "#migrant lives matter, #minority lives matter, #poor lives matter".

Along with he photo, he wrote long caption: "Maybe it’s time for these now? Now that “woke” indian celebrities and the middle class stand in solidarity with fighting systemic racism in America, perhaps they’d see how it manifests in their own backyard? America has exported violence to the world, they have made it a more dangerous place, it was but inevitable that it would come back karmically."

He adds, "I’m not saying they deserve it, I’m saying look at the picture in it’s totality. I’m saying support them by calling out the systemic problems in your own country, because they turn out to be one and the same thing. I’m saying follow their lead but not their actions. Create your own actions, your own movement, relevant to your own country. That is what the black lives matter movement is all about! In the larger picture, there is no “us” and “them”.

There is not a country that’s real. But a planet in peril. #migrantlivesmatter #minoritylivesmatter #poorlivesmatter

Black Lives Matter (find out why not to use the hashtag and still support the movement)."

Widespread protests are taking the US by storm after the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, who was pinned down to the ground by a white police officer in Minneapolis last week.

While many Hollywood celebrities have taken to the streets to be part of the protests in the US, many from Bollywood have been condemning the death on their social media. Kareena Kapoor Khan, Disha Patani, Karan Johar, Tiger Shroff, Priyanka Chopra among others have condemned the death using the hashtag Black Lives Matter.

Taking a jab at their actions, Deol urged them address the issues of India that have come the fore due to the coronavirus-led lockdown — plights migrant workers, poor and minority.

Link to Abhay Deol's post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CA9S7UhJlVC/