Aamir Khan And Media On Intolerant India

India is becoming a political Jungle and creating chaos in the name of freedom of speech. Aamir Khan also known as Mr. Perfectionist made a shocking remark at the ‘Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism’ Awards. He shared his wife’s fear over the country’s intolerance and her suggestion to leave the country for the sake of the safety of their child.

He stated “ Kiran (Rao) and I have lived all our lives in India. For the first time, she said, should we move out of India? That’s a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make to me. 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 a sense of growing disquiet.”

He also said, “As long as you don’t resort to violence, all individuals have a right to protest and they can protest in any manner they feel is right. This is certainly a way to protest for creative people.”

There are good and bad ‘phases’, ‘situations’ and ‘circumstances’ in every nation. The tolerance or the lack of it is only a part of India. India is more and above than this raked up the issue of Intolerance and Despondency. Returning awards was a right method by otherwise incapable artists and writers to express their trepidation. Politicising of a genuine issue should be condemned in all possible manner.

Aamir Khan who was always received as a crusader has spoken like an ordinary actor and an escapist. His tear-jerking episodes of Satyamev Jayate, his movies like Lagaan, Mangal Pandey, Rang De Basanti and his last PK has always inspired and motivated people to accept the flaws of the nation,bring the change and upgrade it into a better nation. He is the brand image of Indian tourism and as an Indian citizen when he gave such statement, he came out as another crafty person who is just exploiting the political scenario.

Aamir is a well-recognised Bollywood celebrity and his wife fears for her childrens’ safety and she is scared to open the newspaper. He mentioned that he feel the sense of insecurity from last 6, 8 months. His words define him as a hypocrite. Being a star he and his family is always surrounded by bodyguards but the common man is out in the open. Who is more insecure? Him or the common people? Still our “Janta” is so tolerant that they may face a problem with government or not, they do not put a question on the ‘integrity’ of India. If the sense of insecurity is dwelling in his heart from last 6, 8 months and that fears him or his family to open the newspaper then should we conclude that he and his wife never read the newspaper before. Pick up any newspaper of any date from 2011, 2012,or 2013, every newspaper has ‘negative news’ on its front page. Back then, also, the Newspapers were inked with crime, scams, rape, murder etc. then why all of a sudden this much hue and cry.

Aamir’s statements unleashed his pessimistic thinking and the audience now understood that he worked in Satyamev Jayate, India tourism ad and in all those patriotic movies to earn some moolah. He was just doing what he was told. It broke the illusion and came as a disappointment.

But the intolerance drama does not stop here. As soon as Aamir made the statement it became a national issue. He is a celebrity and we all showered him with questions, allegations, advice and threats. Yes! The statement was disrespecting for the country, but we gave voice to his views and took it to International level. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is expressing views about it because no one wanted to lose a chance of getting in the limelight in the shadow of Aamir’s statement.

For TRP’s the news channels presented Aamir’s statement in such way that it went viral instantly. As soon as “people” heard, their undying patriotic emotions rushed and they made it an international issue. He alone does not represent India. On social media, everyone has a mike of their own but intelligent people must decide whether they want to create harmony and peace or if they wish to further divide the world.

Aamir Khan made an irresponsible social statement, but the media platforms turned it into a wave of hatred against political parties and religion. It is a must that every Indian understands the Fundamental Rights correctly. They all have a right to Freedom of Speech and Expression where they can voice their opinion publicly, but any public statement that questions the integrity of India or lead to defamation is restricted.Period.

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26 Nov, 2015
Avni S. Singh