Amitabh Bachchan is still an angry young man at 70. Upset with the Bihar police for using his face for an anti-Maoist campaign without his consent, the actor took to Facebook and Twitter to vent his rage on Saturday. And it worked. On Sunday, police pulled down billboards featuring Big B’s photograph in Kaimur district in south-west Bihar. “Just read news about my photograph being used by Bihar Police… this is illegal, no consent taken or given, lawyers in action now,” read the actor’s tweet. While the threat of legal action was enough to get his message across, police officials feel the actor misunderstood their social initiative titled Adhaura Super-30. “Amitji’s picture was used to motivate poor college aspirants because he’s a hero to millions,” Kaimur superintendent of police Uma Shankar Sudhanshu said on Sunday. Under the programme, youth in the Maoist-hit area are provided free coaching for competitive examinations, along with food and lodging. Kaimur additional superintendent of police Manoj Kumar Yadav said Bachchan’s saying on Kaun Banega Crorepati – “Sirf gyaan hi aapko aapka haq dilata hai (only knowledge can get you what is rightfully yours)” – was the best message for the district’s restless tribal youth. “We never used Amitji’s name, photograph or poem to recruit youth to fight Maoists because we don’t see violence by either side as a solution to the problem,” Yadav said.
