Wife suggested moving out of India: Aamir on intolerance

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New Delhi (PTI): Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan today joined the chorus of intelligentsia against growing intolerance, saying he has been “alarmed” by a number of incidences and his wife Kiran Rao even suggested that they should probably leave the country.

He also virtually supported those returning their awards, saying one of the ways for creative people to express their dissatisfaction or disappointment is to return their awards.

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“As an individual, as part of this country as a citizen, we read in the papers what is happening, we see it on the news and certainly, I have been alarmed. I can’t deny. I have been alarmed by a number of incidents,” he said while speaking here at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards.

The actor said he also feels that the sense of insecurity and fear has been growing in the past six or eight months.

“When I chat with Kiran at home, she says ‘Should we move out of India?’ That’s a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day.

“That does indicate that there is this sense of growing disquiet, there is growing despondency apart from alarm. You feel why this is happening, you feel low. That sense does exist in me,” 50-year-old Aamir said.

The actor said for any society, it is important to have a sense of security and sense of justice.

Taking potshots at politicians, he said “… People who are our elected representatives, people who we select to look after us for five years, state or centre… when people take law into their hands, we look upon these people to take a strong stance, to make a strong statement, speed up the legal process, when we see that happening there is a sense of security but when we don’t see that happening there is a sense of insecurity.”

Endorsing the move by scientists, writers and filmmakers to return their awards to register their protest against the atmosphere of growing intolerance, he said for creative people it is important to voice what they feel.

“A number of creative people — historians, scientists — increasingly had a certain feeling in them, which they felt they need to express. For creative people, one of the ways of expressing their dissatisfaction or their disappointment is to return their awards. I think that’s one way of getting your point across,” he said.

When asked whether he endorsed the protests by the people, Aamir said he would as long as it is non-violent as “all individuals have a right to protest and they can protest in any manner that they feel is right as long as they are not taking the law into their hands.”

Aamir said the creative fraternity is protesting because of the growing discomfort that they felt.

“… the growing atmosphere of intolerance that they felt around them, a growing sense of insecurity and disappointment with that and as a result that was their way of showing that they are not happy with the situation.”

The actor criticised the political statements made after the Dadri incident, saying act of violence – be it against individuals or a collection of people – is condemnable.

“It does not matter who the ruling party is… it does not matter who is in power… In TV debates we see, BJP is currently ruling and they are accused of various things but they say what about 1984. That does not make it right. 1984 was disastrous. it was horrendous,” Aamir said, adding that people look up to leaders to make reassuring statements.

To a question why is it so that many politicians visited Dadri after the lynching incident whereas only the defence minister was there at the home of Col Santosh Mahadik, who lost his life in a terrorist attack last week, he said, “every act of terror and violence should be condemned with same ferocity”.


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7 Comments

  1. Move to where?? They can’t move to Paris, London or Belgium – thanks to all the peaceful activities by ‘tolerant’ folks out there!! They can’t move to doddanna because security officials will grill you in every airport, train station, bus stop – you can cry all you want. So, this leaves only one option – they can consider moving to ‘peaceful’ belt that runs from ‘morocco to paakistan’ !! They will be very safe. In fact, his wife will be asked to change her name from ‘Kiran’ to ‘Kameela’ and cover her face in public for ‘security’ purposes!!! LOL Let’s wish them all the best!!

  2. I don’t think I can sum this up better than Tarek Fatak. Let me quote his response to Amir’s comments:

    “I don’t blame Aamir Khan for saying, a Muslim can never have sword & Quran together. He’s good man who hasn’t studied any Islamic history”.

    Very cleaver and accurate!! LOL LOL LOL LOL

  3. I don’t think I can sum this up better than Tarek Fatak. Let me quote his response to Amir’s comments:

    “I don’t blame Aamir Khan for saying, a Muslim can never have sword & Quran together. He’s good man who hasn’t studied any Islamic history”.-Atheist Mr.Original

    Sir,Tarek Fatah is a Pakistani-born Canadian writer, broadcaster, secular, progressive, gay rights supporter and liberal activist, whose musings have sometimes led him into trouble with religious groups. Commencing his journalistic career as a reporter for the Karachi Sun in 1970, Tarek Fatah briefly served as an investigative journalist for Pakistani television before he settled in Saudi Arabia, later migrating to Canada where he started hosting a weekly Toronto-based current affairs talk show called Muslim Chronicle, focusing on the Muslim community, from 1996 to 2006. Tarek has contributed op-ed pieces for various publications including Time magazine, The Toronto Star, The National Post, The Globe and Mail.

    For a person whose own parents migrated from India in 1947 and found freedom and prosperity in Pakistan, who commenced his career here, such vitriolic comments are one sided. Perhaps the erudite scholar needs to do some soul searching instead of playing to the gallery and present an objective picture rather than flow with the Pakistan-bashers’ tide in his musings.

    Fatah admittedly suffers from the problem of an identity crisis.He is using mighty of pen to tarnish religion.Cheap journalist.

    Jai Hind

    • What exactly is vitriolic with Tarek’s comments? Also, it’s funny that you are talking about ‘identity crisis’. In reality, you are the one who is suffering from this crisis. Yesterday, I had posted a link on how Arabs were treating Indians and Pakistanis in Syria, making them clean toilets!! LOL You may think that you are equal by simply growing beard and memorizing an old book. But, you will always be a inferior, subhuman in the eyes of your tribal arab masters. You need to address your identity crisis first.

    • Shaikh Mohd. Rizwan,

      Personalities like Tarek Fattah, Maroof Raza, M.J. Akbar, Dr. Qanta A. Ahmed, et al are very secular, broad-minded and have a live-and-let-live attitude and I find it a great experience to listen to their lectures, because they are knowledgeable and speak the facts, which pseudos and/or fanatical elements cannot digest, simply because they are not ready to face it. They live in a dream world of their own and have primitive minds.

      The personalities I have mentioned are highly respected in their fields and have a large following, though people who are pseudos would prefer to follow some mullahs or kazis who are, at best, illiterates or semi-literates and schooled in Madrassas. They have a mindset of 630 A.D. and prefer to have Sharia laws in these modern times. These laws have no applicability these days, are repulsive, sickening and gory.

      In Riyadh, there is a large school that trains muttawas (who are, to put it in mild English, a pain-in-the-neck for most people, who want to walk on the street, do shopping, have beverages at cafes, go along with females, females not having to cover themselves from head to toe etc.), without anyone troubling them and without everything coming to a standstill during the prayer times.

      The Royal Family and the Muttawas are hand-in-glove, because both have to exist and make hay while the sun shines. If the absolute monarchy ends in Saudi Arabia, then muttawas will be chased and hounded by the public and the Shias of the Eastern Province, who have been discriminated. harassed, jailed on flimsy charges or killed, will celebrate.

      Shaikh Mohd. Rizwan, please remove the cobwebs from your mind and live in the 21st century. I know there are fringe organizations in India who are a pain too, but they fade into insignificance compared to what is happening in some countries of the world in the name of religion. Take for instance Pakistan. Have they ever had a non-Sunni or non-Muslim as a President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice, Service Chiefs, etc. They are persecuting minorities in the name of religion, indulging in crimes and vices, selling adulterated medicines, milk, donkey meat, etc. There are many Pakistanis, who are paedophiles and terrorists.

      Amongst Pakistanis, there are some anchors and journalists who speak the facts, viz. Hassan Nisar, Najam Sethi and others. It was wrong for Pakistan to have Urdu as the national language, because that language has no connection with them and is an import from Lucknow.

      Though, Pakistanis and Indians are biologically the same and similar racial stock, however, they call Indians as non-believers and kiss-the—- of Arabs and call them as brothers, christen their children with Arabic names, grovel in front of them for money and call themselves as true Muslims when, in fact, they have given haven to notorious criminals like Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memom, Hafez Saeed, Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and plethora of other undesirables.

  4. Move to where?? They can’t move to Paris, London or Belgium – thanks to all the peaceful activities by ‘tolerant’ folks out there!! -Atheist Mr.Original

    Sir,When Sparks fly over Peddar Road even the legend of Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar threatens to leave city and emigrate.

    Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan, who is in the city today for the promotion of his controversy-hit film ‘Vishwaaroopam’, said he was “seriously” thinking of leaving the country if this kind of row erupted again.

    “In anger…in emotional outburst I would have said that I will leave the country. It does not mean I will do it..I enjoy the glory and fame. But if this happens again, I will seriously think of leaving. I am serious,” Haasan told reporters.

    Akshay Kumar who found the loath with many successful superhits took citizenship of Canada, the same voices remain ‘tolerant’. The Peshawar born Dilip Kumar was awarded with ‘Padma vibhushan’ Modi’s government has no problem accepting Pakistani actor.

    Sunny Leone, is a Canadian pornographic actress, who made her entry through TV show Bigg Boss same voices go mute as clothes drop.Claudia Balma girl’ is born in Poland, her father is Polish and mother is German. She is a convert to Hinduism. Claudia appeared in Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Khiladi 786’.She has given red carpet welcome because she is revert.

    Katrina Kaif is a British Indian actress,Jacqueline Fernandez is a Sri Lankan actress,Nargis Fakhri is an American actress,Elli Avram is Swedish Greek Actress,Mexican actress Barbara Mori,Amy Jackson, born in Isle of Man,Giselli Monteiro, a Brazilian model and Yana Gupta, originally from Czechoslovakia, the voice of protest go shrill watching foreign bare body.

    If Aamir Khan express mass media makes concotation of story and raise the voice in anger. Is it the religious identity matters or nation first is the question.

    Jai hind

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