Accountability and Reforms are Needed, says Irfan Khan

Irrfan Khan's Dil Kabaddi releases this week but he's "angry and cynical" about what's been happening in the last few days. Reluctant to talk, the actor later agrees and says, "The basic ground rule for any such incidents should be accountability and transparency."

Who's responsible?

He adds, "There have been so many situations in the past, so many lives lost... but who has been held responsible or punished? It's not just the responsibility of the government. Every department who knew about what was happening should be held accountable and punished! Jo nuksaan hua hai woh bharna padega. And I am not talking about the government paying — that will be covered by the insurance companies."

The actor feels that though Home Minister Shivraj Patil has resigned because of the attacks, it's not enough. He says, "It doesn't matter. Those accountable have to pay through their noses till the rest of their lives. We have to understand that we have been surviving on British laws for more than 200 years and are these laws really helping us or should they need to be changed? Is having a democracy paying us or do we need to change everything — from the basic system to the political structure?"Irrfan's also upset that we borrow everything from the USA. He says, "Are we intellectually so bankrupt that we need to do that? The politicians are so bankrupt that they have to woo us with religion. We should take lessons from China and learn how to function and protect ourselves."Irrfan adds, "The common man is dead. Yeh jo log Mumbaikars spirit bolte hai it makes me disgusted! People have no choice but to keep working. Yeh logon ki majboori hai, unko kaam karna hai padta hai. We are a dead society." Irrfan is also all for police reforms. "That's the only way to eradicate corruption. We have to pay them good salaries and improve the quality of their working conditions. What we give them is pathetic. We are still following the British Raj."