Intolerance row: Bhakts attacking Aamir Khan merely proving his point

Aamir Khan doesnt have a new movie release coming up That is what surprised people almost as much as his statement about intolerance in India After all it is a truth universally acknowledged that Mr Khan doesnt say or do anything without the prospect of it affecting the release of a new movie looming on the horizon And yet according to news reports he did speak out Without it being part of a marketing campaign The horrorAlso readKiran suggested we leave the country Aamir Khan on intoleranceAamir Khan joined the intolerance chorus on Monday saying he was alarmedrdquo by a number of incidents and that his filmmakerwife Kiran Rao suggested that they should probably leave the countryTo be fair all Khan expressed was a certain amount of concern over an increase in incidents of intolerance in recent months which had supposedly prompted his wife to consider leaving the country Its a thought that has cropped up in a lot of sane minds over the past couple of months and by sane I mean minds that arent completely in thrall to Narendra Modis sustained PR campaignsAlso readAamir Khans security increased after protests outside his houseNaturally because Aamir Khan is more important that thousands of regular folk who often say pretty much the same thing about intolerance a lot of people decided to get hot and bothered by his comments One aggrieved gentleman from Delhi reportedly filed a police complaint against the actor saying that he as a citizen of this country feels that the celebrities should think before speakingMembers of rightwing outfit Hindu Sena staged a demonstration outside Aamir Khanrsquos Bandra home on Tuesday following his statement on rising intolerance in the country They shouted slogans and even attempted to force their way into the starrsquos house but were prevented by a substantial police presence on the spot They were later arrested PICSHADAB KHANUnfortunately for the resident of Delhi mdash a state known for its residents who often pause to think before abusing someone mdash the kind of role models we place on pedestals here dont exactly do a lot of thinking Heres a cursory look at the kind of people we look up to movie stars who havent been to school movie stars who have been to school cricketers who may or may not have been to school cricket commentators who may or may not have been to school film journalists who write reviews so they can earn enough to enrol themselves into a decent school politicians who certainly havent been to school and businessmen because its all about illgotten money in this land of spiritualism honeyAlso readSome Bollywood celebs troll Aamir Khan others support himGiven this sort of scenario expecting celebrities to think before speaking doesnt really make much of a difference It would only if our celebrities were writers philosophers artists or teachers And theyre notAamir Khans comments also attracted hostility from members of his own industry Like Anupam Kher for instance who asked Aamir why he didnt tell his wife that this country made Aamir Khan It was an inane response of course but then again Kher has never found his name on any list of intelligent people Its also hard to take the man seriously when he spends half his life playing a misogynistic buffoon on the big screenAlso attacking Aamir was Abhijeet Bhattacharya a singer who has in recent years taken upon himself the need to protect Indias dignity one grammatically incorrect tweet at a time He is also the man who famously blamed the poor people sleeping on the street after a sessions court in Bombay sentenced Salman Khan to five years in prison in connection with a 2002 hitandrun case And also the man who referred to Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali as a dengue artist whatever that means from a lsquoterrorist countryrsquo And yes also the man recently accused of molesting a 34year old woman at a Durga puja pandalWhen people like these start defining how patriotic we all ought to be you know India has a problemMaybe Aamir Khan shouldnrsquot have said a word Maybe he should have concentrated on marketing his movies quietly like actors in this country are supposed to do Maybe we need role models who do nothing but shimmy and shake on the big screen so we can then encourage our 5year olds to watch them and do the same in the hope that they can someday earn a lot of money doing it on a big screen Maybe we donrsquot deserve people with opinions unless their opinions reflect our ownI donrsquot agree or disagree with what Aamir Khan had to say I simply believe he has a right to his opinion because like most of us he pays his taxes isnrsquot a criminal and hasnrsquot made awful movies like Ram Gopal Varma does constantly He should have the right to say what he feels because we can all agree to disagree The many rabid attacks on him simply reinforce what he had to say about intolerance And that kind of irony has always been lost on supporters of the Bharatiya Janata PartyTwitterati reactRaveena TandonTandonRaveenadebate hs bcm fully politicisedNjoy d madness pplwhile I go to wish a babyborn of Muslim father Hindu motherlives in no fear trueindiaRam Gopal VarmaRGVzoominIsnrsquot AamirSharukSalman3 Muslims becoming biggest stars of a Hindu country proof enough that india is tolerantAnupam KherAnupamPkherDear aamir_khan SatyamevaJayate u talked about evil practices but gave Hope So even in lsquoIntolerantrsquo times u need 2 spread Hope not FearDear aamir_khan When did lsquoIncredible Indiarsquo become lsquoIntolerant Indiarsquo for you Only in the last 78 months AtithiDevoBhavahAfter effectAs word spread about Aamir Khan speaking out on growing intolerance in the country at an event in Delhi his filmmakerwife Kiran Rao had to face backlash back homein Mumbai Early morning she found a group of people demonstrating outside her house The 20odd protestors who claimed to belong to a rightwing outfit called Hindu Sena were demanding an apology from Aamir for his statements failing which they threatened to hold protests in other parts of the countryThe Khar police arrested all of them soon after Two police vans were promptly stationed outside the starrsquos residenceSources close to the family said that Kiran is obviously disturbed by the goings on and apparently felt more threatened because Aamir was also not in townShe decided to stay put in the house through the day heeding to the advice of friends and family says an insider