Women's protest in US was against Trump and injustice: Freida

India-born internationally acclaimed actress Freida Pinto says the peaceful protest march on Donald Trump's swearing in ceremony as the 45th US President, was not against him only, but was a culmination of what many men, women and children were feeling against widespread injustice in the country.

"One of the things that people grossly misunderstood is that the woman's march was something that was against Trump only. It was the culmination of all things that men, women and children have been feeling for such a long time -- whether it comes to simple acts and freedom of deciding where they want to live and how they are going to live," the 32-year-old, who is now based in Los Angeles, told IANS in an interview here.

Thousands of women across the US came together for a peaceful protest march on the day Trump was sworn in last month. Many celebrities also extended support to the march.

The "Slumdog Millionaire" actress, who has been vocal about women empowerment in the past and is also known for her humanitarian works, features in a video "Why I March", helmed by American director Nannette Burstein.

Trump has earned the ire of people from all quarters after his controversial executive order to temporarily bar entry into the US to refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations.

Freida says that nobody has the right to stop people from legally going anywhere.

"If they are immigrants, they shouldn't be banned from legally going to any place where they could possible have or start leading a better life. Even for LGBT communities, your rights can not be taken away from you... So it was really a march to protest against all these injustices as opposed to one person that we were trying to protest against," added the actress who was in the city to celebrate International Scotch Day last week with brand Diageo's #LoveScotch initiative.

In a short span, Freida has carved out a niche of her own in world cinema through her roles in films like "Miral", "Day of the Falcon", "Immortals", "Desert Dancer" along with "Slumdog Millionaire" that made her a household name.

The actress says that "it was not the happiest moment" coming out from former US President Barack Obama's "glorious eight years".

"It was definitely not the happy moment, but instead of just getting despondent or getting frustrated, we decided to come out and lead our voices to be heard... If the leader of the free world that the whole country follows -- which is the leader of the US -- is going to stand against things that are basic human rights, we are not going to stand up for that either," said Freida.

(Nivedita was in Mumbai at the invitation of drinks brand Diageo. She can be contacted at [email protected])

--IANS

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