Mumbai: Bollywood starlet Jiah Khan is the latest celebrity for PETA's campaign against glass-coated kite strings, which are injurious to birds.
The actress, who recently starred in blockbuster Ghajini, is dressed as a wounded bird wrapped in kite string and next to the tagline 'Cut the Glass-Coated Manja, Not Birds' in the new advertisement for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Shot by ace photographer Farrokh Chothia the new ad coincides with the festival of Makar Sankranti, which is also traditionally the time when people fly kites. With the increasing use of glass-coated manja, thousands of birds are killed or maimed by getting entangled in the manja, a spokesperson of PETA said.
Jiah Khan, who debuted in Bollywood with Ram Gopal Verma's controversial film Nishabd opposite Amitabh Bachchan is the latest to model for the animal rights organisation.
"Glass-coated manja is a public health hazard and causes an excruciating death for birds who get entangled in it," Zia said in a statement.
"We're asking participants in the Makar Sankranti contests and all kite-flying competitors to immediately stop using glass-coated manja and to conduct their sport in a way that isn't deadly to humans and wildlife," she said. Apart from actors like Shilpa Shetty, John Abraham, Celina Jaitely and Anushka Shankar have previously worked with the organisation.
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