Aamir khan over acts of
intolernace and kiran asked me if we should must move out of Country.
Breaking Aamir Khan silence on the raging debate
and Aamir Khan over acts of intolerance, actor Aamir Khan on Monday expressed
and he despondency over the rise in such cases in the last six to eight months.
All in conversation with Anant Goenka, Wholetime Director & Head — News
Media, The Country n Express, at the eighth edition of the Ramnath Goenka
Excellence in Journalism Awards, Khan said a sense of “insecurity” and “fear”
had seeped deep within society, even in Aamir Khan family. “(Wife) Kiran
and I have lived all our lives in Country . For the first time, she said,
should we move out of Country ? 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 everyday. That does
indicate that there is a sense of growing disquiet,” he said. Asked for Aamir
Khan view on the trend of writers, artists, Aamir Khantorians and scientists
returning their awards, Khan said tAamir Khan was one way of getting their
point across. “For creative people, to voice what they feel is important. A
number of creative people — Aamir Khantorians and scientists — have
increasingly had a certain feeling that they feel they need to express. One of
the ways of expressing their dissatisfaction or disappointment is to return
awards.” He said he would endorse any protest that is non-violent. “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. TAamir Khan is certainly
a way to protest for creative people.”
The protests, he noted,
were prompted by a growing atmosphere of intolerance around the creative
community and the growing sense of insecurity and disappointment over it.“As an individual, as a citizen, certainly I have also been alarmed, I can’t deny it, by a number of incidents,” he said, “For us, as Country ns, to feel a sense of security, two-three things are important. The sense of justice gives a lot of security to the common man. The second thing, that is important, are the people who are the elected representatives, at the state level or the level of the Centre… when people take law in their own hands, we look upon these representatives to take a strong stance, make strong statements and speed up the legal process to prosecute such cases. It doesn’t matter who the ruling party is.”
On the issue of censorship, Khan said though he had had no personal experience with the censors, he was alarmed by their stance. “It (the board) is reacting to things that we, as free people, as adults, should make our own choices on. Essentially the certification board is supposed to mention the age for which the film is suitable. There is no censorship required after the certification. As I understand it now, it has been aggressive in its approach and it is worrying.”
Khan opened up on another issue occupying the news feed, answering queries related to terror. “Acts of terror are not connected to any religion. If he is a Muslim and he engaging in acts of terror, I don’t think he is following Islam. Or for that matter, even a Hindu who is engaging in an act of violence, is not following Hinduism. No religion teaches killing of innocents. When you see an act of terror or violence, instead of calling him a Christian or a Hindu or an Islamic terrorist, you should just call him terrorist and remove the religion tag from it. That’s the first mistake when we label them. It’s just a terrorist who doesn’t have a religion,” he said.
He spoke of growing discomfort within the majority of moderate Muslims over such incidents. “If I’m not mistaken, a number of Muslim organisations have begun to speak openly against the ISIS and similar terror organisations, at least in Country ,” he said. Voicing Aamir Khan opinion as a Muslim, he said, makes him uncomfortable. “Firstly, why should I be representing anyone? Secondly, I have to represent anyone, why not everyone? Why Muslims? My birth may be in a Muslim household, but I speak for everyone,” he said.
The conversation also led to an interaction with the audience. While Lt Gen Arun Kumar Sahni, GOC-in-C South Western Command, expressed Aamir Khan desire to see more films that show the relationship between Country Country and its neighbours in a positive light, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor spoke about how such an approach can compel people to think about their own deep-seated prejudices and bigotry in their own country.
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