Actress and UN human rights equality activist Celina Jaitly opens up in the wake of Priyanka Chopra being accused of encouraging nuclear war through her tweet. She also talks about her army background and return to films
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; August 25, 2019)

You haven’t been in the public eye for a while now. What have you been up to?
I have been through massive ups and downs in the last three years, but I guess that’s life. But now, I am looking forward to the release of my next film — Season’s Greetings, which is tribute to filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh. I tragically lost both my parents last year and the script of this film came along at a time when I was going through an emotional crisis. It helped me sail through the turbulent waters. It’s also special because, this was the first time that I got to shoot a film in Kolkata, a city that I consider my hometown. It brought back a lot of memories. I have spent my childhood all around India, but I spent considerable amount of time in Kolkata owing to the fact that my father was posted there. Kolkata reminds me of my struggling days, as I started off my modelling career there. At heart, I am a Bengali, and I hope the people of the city adopt me as one of them. I will always be a Kolkata girl.

Priyanka Chopra has been associated with UNICEF for over a decade now. Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari sent a letter to UN on August 20, seeking her removal as their Goodwill Ambassador. She was accused of ‘encouraging nuclear war against Pakistan’, by a Pakistani-American influencer who was present at a beauty event in Los Angeles, where PC was invited as a guest. She called Priyanka a hypocrite and claimed that an old tweet of the actress supported the Indian Army and thus, encouraged war. What’s your take on this issue?
Priyanka’s simple tribute to the Armed Forces was completely blown out of proportion by a wannabe influencer. Celebrating our Armed Forces does not mean we are promoting nuclear war! Do you expect us to stop saying Jai Hind or dismiss the contribution of generations of our Armed Forces? This whole thing was unfair to Priyanka. I think it was done to evoke a hyper reaction from her, but she handled it with so much grace and dignity. First and foremost, we are Indians. Priyanka’s parents have served as doctors in the Armed Forces and four generations of my family have been in the Army. We are proud citizens of this country who stand united behind our armed forces. This does not mean we are propagating nuclear war! We are eternally grateful to the valiant services of our Armed Forces in keeping us safe and secure. India has always been a global ambassador of peace.

Do you think this was an attempt by a person to grab eyeballs and attention on social media by targeting a celebrity?
A dignified celebration of our Armed Forces’ dedication and selfless service does not mean in any way that one is encouraging nukes. Anyone who misconstrues the intent needs a reality check. This is just an insinuation by a wannabe instagrammer who wanted to increase her followers. Celebrities are often attacked on social media on baseless grounds to garner publicity. Voicing your opinion at a cosmetic event at a UN ambassador who talks about human rights does not make you a propagator of peace. You cannot accuse someone of encouraging nuclear war only because they respect their Armed Forces! Every patriot does that. There is not an iota of doubt that in order to achieve sustainable growth and development all over the world, we need to prioritise peace over war. Peace is often defined as the absence of violence, conflict, hostility and war. We can always propagate peace, but peace is not merely the absence of violence, but also vanquishing of oppression and terrorism if needed. I hate to say this, but sometimes war is needed to sustain peace... it goes both ways. Peace also comes at a cost. There is no history of continued peace in the world unless war intervened to maintain that peace. Even a soldier does not want war, but he has to go and defend his country.

Last year, in a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court scrapped Section 377 of the IPC. You are a strong advocate of the LGBTQIA rights. Hereon, where do you see things heading?
Many people from the LGBTQIA community have played an important role in my life. I started my career at 16 and all through these years, they have had a strong impact on me. In fact, they had such a strong influence on me that it made me stand up for what is right even before I joined the UN to support this movement of equal rights. Activism is a long process as changing mindsets is not easy. We have come a long way as we have finally overthrown an archaic law.

You married Austrian hotelier Peter Haag in 2011. How easy or tough was it initially to embrace the cultural differences?
I believe that marriage in itself is a work in progress, no matter who you are married to or which culture you are married into. I was very fortunate that my husband is an expatriate who came from a family of expats. He is openminded and was keen to embrace our Indian culture. Embracing each other’s culture is crucial in a cross-cultural marriage. Peter has taken a liking to all the crazy things I do in India. He likes street food like vada pav and paani puri. I love cooking and over the years, I have embraced cooking Austrian food in a massive way. He is Austrian, I am Indian and we have lived in places like Dubai and Singapore, and now, we are back in Europe for a while. Travel helps you evolve so much as a human being. Your children grow up as global citizens, which is fascinating because you see them imbibe different traditions and cultures. As an actor you think that you have seen it all and done it all. But no, the truth is that you haven’t. Once you live in different parts of the world, you grow by leaps and bounds.

It must be interesting to see your kids soaking in both the cultures. Moving your base from place to place has its challenges, but on the other hand, it could amount to life changing experiences for them. Do you agree?
Our kids are multilingual. Peter speaks with them in German and I speak to them in Bengali, Hindi and English. Coming from an army background, a lot of Hinglish was spoken at home. So yes, they definitely understand and speak Hindi, but not too fluently, as they have been studying in a German medium school. But the good thing is that, they have understanding of both our cultures. They look forward to festivals like Diwali and Holi. They ask for mithai after having a perfect German meal. It’s funny to overhear their conversations. The twins tell their friends from Austria, China and Japan what a paani puri is all about. They say, “It’s a ball filled with spicy water”.