Manoj: I stand with all the people who are marginalised by the new Surrogacy Bill!

Manoj Bajpayee is definitely amongst the country’s finest actors today. From ‘Satya’ to ‘Aligarh’, Bajpayee has only shown his versatility as an actor by doing the most challenging roles.

The two-time National Award winner has now been featured on the cover page of Bombay Dost- India’s first and oldest LGBTQ magazine. The cover was launched in Mumbai and during the launch, Bajpayee spoke out against the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill recently cleared by the Cabinet. The Bill does not allow homosexuals or live-in couples to have children through the assisted method of reproduction.

The actor stated, “I take so much pride in saying I come from a democracy. That is why when things like this Surrogacy Bill is brought in, I feel sad and angry. The sadness and anger is not just because one part of the population is once again being pushed out of the mainstream, so to speak. It is because such a Bill chips away at my pride of belonging to a democracy.”

He also said that he had been told that the new bill, is a good way to control population. The actor added, “I retorted that population should have been controlled years ago.  My dad had six children. Six! I often ask my dad, ‘Why?’ He was a lower middle-class farmer. How could you afford to educate all of them?” Having said that, he added, “Why deprive people of the right and opportunity to feel great as human beings by bringing a new life into this world? I protest. I stand with all the people who are marginalised by the new Surrogacy Bill.”

A few days ago, Union Minister Sushma Swaraj had expressed her views as to how celebrities opt for surrogacy as it was fashionable and that something that had started as a need (surrogacy) had now become a trend. Her comments were directly aimed at superstars Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan who had both opted for the procedure of surrogacy for the birth of their youngest child.