Pakistani-origin British actor and rapper Rizwan Ahmed has called for misrepresentation of Muslims on screen to be stopped. Riz took to social media to voice his concerns over toxic portrayals of Muslims.
In an elaborated video speech, the Sound of Metal star said that the problem with Muslim representation couldn’t be ignored anymore.
“What must the unwritten rule be about muslims, a quarter of the world’s population and their place in our stories, our culture and their place in our society, if any?” Riz questioned.
Riz urged Hollywood industry to end stereotypes related to Muslims after a study showed Muslims characters rarely appear on screen, or are shown in a negative light if they do.
Riz Ahmed has also launched a fund to help combat negative portrayals of Muslims in films. The Pillars Artist Fellowship, which is aimed toward Muslim storytellers in the US and UK, is launched in coordination with the Pillars Fund, Left Handed Films and other Muslim actors, writers, and directors.
“The representation of Muslims on screen feeds the policies that get enacted, the people that get killed, the countries that get invaded,” Riz said.
Earlier this year, The Venom star had become the first Muslim to be nominated for best actor at the Oscars. 
The 38 years old actor openly criticized the Oscar-winning films American Sniper, The Hurt Locker and Argo, called them “frankly racist.” He said they are “films that dehumanise and demonise Muslim characters, insofar as they are the perpetrators or victims of violence, unworthy of empathy or incapable of empathy”.
He also said he was “gutted” over the depiction of Muslim characters in the Amazon series The Boys, a show which he previously loved.
Riz continued to state that the massacre of three generations of one family in Canada was just the price muslims pay for their unjustified depiction in movies.
“This is the result of dehumanizing and demonizing portrayals of Muslims. As someone from Pillars Fund told me, people don’t just wake up hating Muslims. They believe a story.”
Here is full video of what else Riz had to say
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