Clarification: I never write on political or religious matters, but this time could not stop myself due to the anguish I felt about certain loose remarks of few individuals,who I always admired,who tend to take undue advantage of the right of the freedom of expression" in our country.
Aamir Khan, one of the most celebrated actors of our country, whom I have always admired, is the latest addition to this list of people, who tend to forget the advantages they have in this country and always try to highlight the dark areas.
This article is meant to address few of these misguided and ungrateful souls and to help them to see some light.Hope this is my first and last article on political/religious issues.
Assalamualaikum.
I am a big fan of your movies as well as of your acting skills although many a times I don't fully agree with the views propagated in your movies/shows. But somehow I never took them against you as I thought that you are just an actor ,doing a job. For instance,your over-the-top acting of shedding tears in 'Satyamev-Jayate' by presenting one-sided data or too much criticism of my religion in the movie 'PK' while being very discreet about similar issues in your own religion,never mattered to me.
I also never bothered too much about the obvious contradictions of your well crafted public image of a rational & a concerned citizen of the nation in 'Satyamev -Jayte' vs. being a lead actor in a superstition based movie 'Talash' and promoting unhealthy soft-drinks (and btw most w of us are also well aware of the fact that you went to Hajj in Mecca and participated in some stone-throwing ceremony there, similar to certain Hindu ceremonies you denounced in PK) .
I ,like many others ,considered all of this as a part of your efforts to make money, to earn a name while being true to your faith. .And most of the Indians never found anything wrong in it. Every person has a right to project an appropriate image of himself ,to earn money and at the same time has an equal right to follow his religious customs.
But yesterday's statement of yours that you and your wife are thinking of leaving the nation because of intolerance in this country ,has forced me to think whether you really deserve all the eulogies and the status that Indians have bestowed upon you so generously. (And if this is other gimmick of yours to promote your upcoming movie ,then my dear Aamir, this is really in a very bad taste ,very cheap indeed)
First of all ,will like to understand the reason of you using your wife's name while making such a serious statement! Was this her idea or you are not bold enough to state your own thoughts in a straight-forward manner .Or you wanted to create confusion by using her name as she's a Hindu .Anyway,let's debate the larger issues.
Don't think that you read newspapers (have a doubt as you barely passed out from school before jumping into movies) but if you happen to watch any TV news then you must be ware that there is an effort by certain fundamentalist elements to misguide the youth and provoke them to kill people of other religions.And you should be aware ( again am not sure ) that majority of Indian Muslims have chosen to speak against it.
Instead of praising Indian Muslim clerics' fatwa against ISIS that can help Indian Muslim youth to stay away from this dangerous and divisive propaganda ,you chose to speak on certain not-so-important stray incidents in our country.
You seem to forget that you are able to live peacefully in India even after acting in 'PK' ,an anti-Hindu movie. Is this possible in any of those country where you plan to migrate?A satire on a certain religious prophet can get you killed but a satire on Hindu gods can fetch you 300 crore and is still counting.This is our tolerance!
And you also need to remember that you & many other non-Hindus are highly paid actors in a Hindu majority nation because we don't see a person's abilities with religious -glasses .
And yes , hope you know that a modern society like ours,majority still tolerates the medieval practice of a person having multiple wives( including you) , because we don't want to interfere in their religious freedom.Think there can be no better example of tolerance of a society.
And let's remind you that Muslims' population growth rate is much higher in India as compared to other religious communities and India has the 2nd highest population in the world after Indonesia .They have equal rights as well as equal opportunities . And above that ,there are no Shia-Sunni fights here that are prevalent in almost every other Muslim majority nation.
While we never questioned your sincerity in the past, your latest silly statement compels us to think whether you really understand the meaning of 'intolerance'.You have several times talked about several outdated and not-so-rational practices of others' religions (except your own).You know that has been possible because all of those guys never frightened you, they are tolerant as well as they welcome new thoughts to introspect & improve themselves.
But on the other hand ,you have never dared to do a show or became part of any project which could give you opportunity of giving a lecture on multiple marriages, leaving a life partner just by uttering 3 words,terrorism etc.etc. to your fellow religious brethren!
You won't do that and you also know the reason for that. You are scared ,you know that you will not be able to come out of your home if you say or talk something about these matters.My dear,that is known as 'intolerance'.
And the biggest irony is that you never felt 'insecure' when your co-religionists burned Mumbai, when the 5 star hotel you frequent was held hostage by a few terrorists. Wondering what Kiran felt when a massive mob gathered in your city,very near to your home, for the funeral of a hanged terrorist. You never raised your voice when any of this was happening and now you want to leave this country.
I felt insecure,like many other Indians,on all these occasions,but we never thought of running away.Do you think our soldiers feel safe when they face the bullets ?No, they all feel insecure, but they don't run away ,they stay there and face the challenges.Many others, in the past, have protested against certain events, but none of them talked about leaving the nation.In that sense I admire Sharukh Khan, who while answering abusive religious -bigots clearly said that India is his home and he is not going away anywhere.
May be you have never faced any real insecurities, real failures in your life.Fighting back and struggling to win over difficulties has not been part of your character, that's why even on a smallest hint of discomfort ,you have shown an escapist mindset.
And you try to project yourself a thinking man's actor ? Huh!
Colonel Mahadik's (who sacrificed his life,few days back, fighting the enemies of his motherland) wife says that she wants her kids to join army for the sake of the nation and you along-with your wife want to run away for the safety of your children. Am having difficulty to find an appropriate word for this kind of attitude- cowardice or betrayal?
If you can still find a country that is more suitable for Muslims & where you can get this kind of status & freedom,then you are welcome to leave my beloved & so called intolerant country.
Our country will be better-off in absence of ungrateful people like you! On the other hand ,if you fail to find any country better than India ,you are welcome to stay here and keep doing your job.We ,as a nation , are strong enough to absorb and survive diversities of thoughts and few JaiChands too.
In the end ,would like to say that I still admire you as an artist but with this latest silly comment you have lost all the respect as a person as well as a fellow countryman.
And at the last but not the least, if you are still undecided,will reassure you that India is your home like it is mine and for 1.3 billion other Indians. Don't get scared ,we will sail through all the difficulties as a united family.
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