Rahul backs, BJP attacks Aamir on intolerance remarks

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, November 24

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday backed actor Aamir Khan after his remarks over a rise in intolerance in the country sparked controversy.

Gandhi suggested the Modi government should reach out to the people to know about the reason they felt disturbed.

Supporting Aamir Khan, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Instead of branding all those who question the Government & Modiji - as unpatriotic, anti-national or 'motivated' the Govt would do better to reach out to people to understand what's disturbing them." In a succession of tweets, Rahul Gandhi said: "That's the way to solve problems in India - not by bullying, threatening & abusing!" 

Speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Awards ceremony in the national capital on Monday, Aamir Khan said: "For the last six to eight months, there has been a growing despondency I would say. Kiran and I have lived all our life in India. When I sit at home and talk to Kiran, for the first time she said, 'Should we move out of India?' Now that's a very disastrous and a big comment to make to me."

The actor went on to say that "she fears for her child, she fears for the atmosphere around us, she feels scared to open the newspapers every day. That indicates there is a sense of growing disquiet, despondency apart from alarm."

He added that "one part is alarm, another part is that you feel depressed, you feel low...you feel why is this happening. So, that sense does exist in me, to be quite honest." 

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted in support of the actor and appreciated him for raising his voice on the issue.

"Every word that @aamir_khan said is so true. I admire him for speaking up," Kejriwal tweeted.

"BJP should stop silencing voices through abuses and threats. It's high time that Central government took concrete steps to instill sense of security amongst people," he said in a series of tweets.

Siding with the actor, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the former's statement was taken out of context and added that it was in no way hostile to the government. 

“Sometimes, statements can be taken out of context. If you look at the overall context of what he was saying, it was in no way hostile to the government, it was simply hostile to the kind of climate that we have seen rising in this country,” he said.

“You cannot reduce Aamir Khan and like that before Shahrukh Khan to one community. They are speaking as individuals who have shown over the years the tremendous concern and patriotism for the country,” he added.

Don't forget India made you a star: BJP

Meanwhile, the government critisised Aamir Khan’s remarks, saying that such statements only bring disrepute to the country as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"His comments on intolerance are completely misplaced. Comments like this only bring the image of country and the Prime Minister Modi down," Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters on the sidelines of a function here when asked to comment on Aamir Khan's statement yesterday at an award function in the national capital.

Rijiju said communal incidents in the country have come down ever since the Modi government came to power in May 2014.

"Communal violence has come down since NDA came to power. There were less number of communal incidents," he said.

According to Home Ministry statistics, 86 people were killed till October this year in various communal violence incidents in comparison to 90 deaths in the corresponding period of 2014.

However, the total number of communal incidents till October witnessed a rise this year with 630 incidents being recorded as compared to 561 incidents in 2014.

In 2013, when the UPA was in power, the corresponding figure was 694 incidents, though that was largely on account of the Muzaffarnagar riots that claimed more than 60 lives.

As many as 1,899 people were injured in various communal violence till October 2015 in comparison to 1,688 people injured last year.

A total of 644 communal violence incidents took place in 2014, resulting in 95 deaths and injuries to 1,921 people.

Haryana Minister Anil Vij also gave a new twist to the intolerance issue, alleging some people were raking it up at Pakistan's behest to thwart India's chances of getting permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said: “Don't forget India made you a star.” He also said Rahul Gandhi should not teach India tolerance.

BJP secretary Shrikant Sharma advised Aamir Khan not to fall in the “Congress trap”. Attacking Aamir, he said:  “Don't defame India.”

He said: “Aamir is a film maker and his livelihood dependents on films. But, there are a lot of poor people in the country, who are dependent upon jobs. A statement like this can disturb the investment in the country and people can misjudge his statement.”

——With Inputs from agencies