The Twitter firestorm lit by Aamir Khan’s controversial comments about the growing atmosphere of intolerance in the country has polarised Bollywood.
The reason for the ferocious exchanges between those who support Khan’s remarks and those who have attacked him for exaggeration, is perhaps that Bollywood stars do not generally comment on politics. On the rare occasion that this happens, the public’s reaction — and that of fans — has been strong.
Celebrities in India are deified, but tend to be swiftly vilified whenever they put a foot wrong.
Khan, one of Bollywood's top actors, and host and producer of the television show Satyamev Jayate, attracted a torrent of criticism on social media and Twitter after an interview on Monday, November 23, in New Delhi, where he said that his wife was so troubled by the atmosphere in the country that she was wondering if the family should live overseas.
His colleagues within the industry reacted quickly and, in some casesm harshly.
Actors such as Anupam Kher, Raveena Tendon, Paresh Rawal, and Rishi Kapoor and director Ram Gopal Varma at once took to Twitter to slam Khan.
Varma tweeted: “If Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman the three biggest stars of the Hindu country “India” are Muslims, I don’t understand where intolerance is?”
Rawal, who is also an MP of the ruling Bharitya Janata Party, and who acted with Khan in Andaaz Apna Apna and Akele Hum Akele Tum, also hit out at Khan, saying that if he really believed India was his motherland, he would never talk about leaving it.
“A true patriot will not run away n leave his motherland behind in turmoil or in troubled times (if any ) ... don’t escape — build it,” he tweeted.
Tendon tweeted: ‘Fringe elements were always there, 1 can always say that’s condemnable, action needs to be taken against them, but to spread paranoia? not done.’
The sharpest words came in an exchange between producer and director Shirish Kunder (husband of filmmaker Farah Khan) and Kher, who was one of the first to condemn Khan with a series of tweets.
“Did you tell Kiran that you have lived through more worse times in this country & but you never thought of moving out?”; “When did ‘Incredible India’ become ‘Intolerant India’ for you? Only in the last 7-8 months?”; and “Presumed country has become #Intolerant. Wat do u suggest 2 millions of Indians? Leave India? Or wait till regime changes?”
Kunder retaliated angrily with the hashtag #IStandWithAamirKhan, saying ‘The words of the wise will be silenced by the aggression of fools,” and “People may get upset if their logic is challenged, but they will get angry if their blind faith is challenged.”
Supporting Kunder is Bollywood hunk Hrithik Roshan, who tweeted: “What I learn from this — even when attacked u must find d power to respond and not react! Well done @aamir_khan.’
The frenzy continued throughout the week, with political parties joining the fray. On Thursday, Khan issued a statement responding to allegations that he is “antinational”:
“Let me state categorically that neither I, nor my wife Kiran, have any intention of leaving the country. We never did, nor would we like to in the future. India is my country, I love it, I feel fortunate for being born here, and this is where I am staying.”
The statement did nothing to soothe tempers and quell passions. Some BJP leaders accused Khan of a “moral offence” while among his colleagues in the industry, the debate continued to rage. Film maker Farah Khan supported the actor, telling reporters:, “I just want to say that there is no intolerance but when somebody has a point of view, everybody jumps on him and attacks him, that is the very definition of intolerance.”
Meanwhile, Khan continued his schedule, turning up in rural Punjab, a northern state, on Thursday, November 26, to shoot for his upcoming biopic Dangal. The Sikh villagers have said they had no idea what the controversy is about, and plan to lavish Punjabi hospitality on their celebrity guest.
But Rajeev Tandon, the chairman of the state’s Shiv Sena, a right wing Hindu political party, led a protest outside the hotel where Khan is staying, and has actually offered a reward to anyone who physically assaults the actor: “Any person who slaps Aamir Khan would be rewarded 1 lakh rupees [about Dh5,500]. This is important because no one living in our country should dare to say anything against India.”
Aamir Khan’s full statement:
First let me state categorically that neither I, nor my wife Kiran, have any intention of leaving the country. We never did, and nor would we like to in the future. Anyone implying the opposite has either not seen my interview or is deliberately trying to distort what I have said. India is my country, I love it, I feel fortunate for being born here, and this is where I am staying.
Secondly, I stand by everything that I have said in my interview.
To all those people who are calling me antinational, I would like to say that I am proud to be Indian, and I do not need anyone’s permission nor endorsement for that.
To all the people shouting obscenities at me for speaking my heart out, it saddens me to say you are only proving my point.
To all the people who have stood by me, thank you. We have to protect what this beautiful and unique country of ours really stands for. We have to protect its integrity, diversity, inclusiveness, its many languages, its culture, its history, its tolerance, it’s concept of anekantavada, it’s love, sensitivity and its emotional strength.
I would like to end my statement with a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, it’s a prayer really:
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high,
Where knowledge is free,
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments,
by narrow domestic walls,
Where words come out from the depth of truth,
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection,
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way,
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit,
Where the mind is led forward by thee,
Into ever-widening thought and action,
Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.
Jai Hind.
Aamir Khan.
artslife@thenational.ae