A fellow blogger posted this about the recent brouhaha about an Indian film star’s comments on tolerance (rather the lack thereof) in India.
Here’s the post
I like playing Devil’s advocate, so let me ask some questions too. 😀
1. What exactly could the son of a super-rich father be scared of?
2. Are these incidents of violence (and I hate all religious violence) really so bad that people are thinking of leaving the country?
3. Isn’t the right to criticize also guaranteed?
4. Aren’t people allowed to boycott companies associated with a person/religious value/social ethos that they, the people, don’t support? Don’t LGBT advocates routinely boycott places/businesses with staunch conservative views?
5. How much physical violence has Aamir been threatened with? apart from people calling him names and I’m sure some wishing he died?
6. Why do we look at a slightly-better-than-average actor for an intelligent view? He wants to use his star power for social causes, good for him. Let him understand what the cause is before he shoots his mouth off (this is in reference to his shows and his previous public statements.), To think he is intelligent enough to have a nuanced view on socio-political issues is a disservice to the issues themselves.
I have read the entire interview (published in Indian Express today). I don’t think he was thinking when he said that. Maybe he got caught up in the flow of words. Maybe not. Maybe he really has thought of moving out, maybe it’s only his wife. Doesn’t matter. He has a valid view, he has the right to say it; so have others.
Remember the cardinal rule of freedom of speech and expression, “You do not have the right not to be offended!” Someone’s views will offend you, yours will offend someone. Some will get extremely childish, some crass and vulgar. That’s the bathwater you have to keep.
I am not a BJP supporter and definitely not a RSS supporter, They’re all crazy, as far as I can tell. But those who support them also have the right to a view and the right to express it.
And honestly, Aamir! Dude your kid has a small army protecting him, who would believe that your wife thinks her kid isn’t safe? Unless she’s gigantically stupid (which I honestly doubt). 😛
Ok, let loose the brickbats now! 😀
hbhatnagar 
I wanna stay away from all this
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Posted by bhavpreet | 25/11/2015, 8:17 PMHappy Gurpurab! Light some diyas and think of joyful things. 🙂
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 25/11/2015, 9:10 PMyeeah i did that actually … SAME TO YOU … and it was a really nice celebration day in the city … i loved it ..
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Posted by bhavpreet | 27/11/2015, 8:43 AMI enjoyed this post immensely, H of B. Read it before a meeting and made sure to return for a slow read plus comments. I am completely at a loss for context, as you know, because I am an offworlder but that’s what I love about interacting with new cultures and seeing issues from the inside. You said, “Someone’s views will offend you, yours will offend someone. Some will get extremely childish, some crass and vulgar.” +1 for the last phrase, but as for “the bathwater”, I decided to make mine private. xoxoxo
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Posted by Sabiscuit | 25/11/2015, 4:16 PMI’m glad you enjoyed the post, and thanks for understanding my point of view. And as for your bathwater, I just hope you change it often enough! 😀
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 25/11/2015, 9:10 PMTrying. And thank you for the advice. xo
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Posted by Sabiscuit | 25/11/2015, 11:24 PMIt is valid to criticize and not support and what not but People go way too far in criticizing without even knowing the context of arguement..and there is also a possibility that he was misunderstood!
Today in the morning I got a message saying Please do not watch Dilwale as SRK thinks India is intolerant as a nation. I was like whatttt?! you just spread some news and people follow it blindly. Have an opinion that has some substance I’ll say.
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Posted by whimsical90 | 25/11/2015, 2:53 PMSee, going too far is a very relative term, and boycotting is in my opinion, a rather acceptable way of showing you don’t support a particular thing. I don’t see Aamir explaining himself and I’m the first person to say he might have not even understood the import of his statement, he’s not exactly a very intelligent person! 🙂
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 25/11/2015, 9:08 PMAh! People are expecting way too much out of him and digging way too deep. See, you yourself don’t think he is intelligent enough and here we are talking about him. He just gave an opinion which he has every right to. And we all now…it will settle in a day or two. Media needs some crap spice.
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Posted by whimsical90 | 27/11/2015, 11:31 PMI don’t mind his opinion, or the ones that have come in against his views either. People do that with idols, they expect the world from them; after all they’ve laid the world at their idol’s feet. Whether he likes it or not, Aamir’s opinion counts for a lot more than yours or mine would. He can claim that he never asked for this, but adulation and expectation are part of the same package. I do think he’s intelligent enough to know that. 🙂
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 28/11/2015, 9:38 AMI guess he would have realized it big time…it is not a very healthy culture though,…to first make them idols and then thrash them without any consideration. Anyway, :).
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Posted by whimsical90 | 30/11/2015, 12:32 AMSee, you are drawing incorrect inferences from his statements too. The fear is not from a violence point of view. He’s not worried that he or his family is gonna be killed tomorrow. It’s more ideological. Living everyday amidst such prejudice and hatred can be a disturbing prospect for many psychologically and that’s exactly what his wife is worried about. He is not perfect, and definitely not so intelligent that we should take his every word as canon.
In any case, we should not be debating over what he said or not said. My post was only about the way a lot of people responded. “An insulted Indian”, signed-off one blogger. I was like, seriously?
3. Isn’t the right to criticize also guaranteed?
Sure. People can say whatever they want to say. I’m only worried with what they had to say. A license to kill does not mean that you can go and kill whoever you want.
4. Aren’t people allowed to boycott companies associated with a person/religious value/social ethos that they, the people, don’t support? Don’t LGBT advocates routinely boycott places/businesses with staunch conservative views?
The above is true if Aamir Khan is the CEO of SnapDeal, which he is not. Why should a totally unrelated third-party company take the brunt for roping a star as brand ambassador? They didn’t rope him in for his political views. People were right to boycott Chick-Fil-A when it spoke against LGBT issues, because it was the company itself that made those comments.
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Posted by Uday | 25/11/2015, 2:15 PM1. That’s your inference, mine and maybe even Aamir’s could be different.
2. I don’t see many death threats, most talk has been about boycotting his films or the products/services he endorses.
3. Contact with anything affects you. It always does. That’s why sponsors like Accenture dropped Tiger Woods the moment his sex shenanigans became public. It’s quite natural. Brand image is a very fickle thing, and it has to be handled sensitively. Mel Gibson is a decent enough actor, but you don’t see sponsors knocking on his door, do you?
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 25/11/2015, 9:06 PMHmm it’s only as fickle as what you make it to be. I don’t buy a product because of its brand ambassador, but apparently some people do. But people are acting this way against Snapdeal app because that’s the only way for them to show their anger. That’s the main driving point. Like someone else said, these same people wouldn’t mind to install the app again sometime later when Snapdeal offers any ‘app only’ deals.
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Posted by Uday | 25/11/2015, 10:31 PMAnd that is all part of the freedom we choose to cherish.
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 25/11/2015, 10:38 PMI wished I were Aamir khan, could have uttered a word and moved the nation. Sigh!
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Posted by Vamagandhi | 25/11/2015, 1:51 PMHey, even Yogi Adityanath does that! 😀
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 25/11/2015, 9:02 PMI read the headline yesterday, and Question number came to my mind as I did. It seems to be indeed madness on his part to make such a statement.
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Posted by Udit. | 25/11/2015, 12:19 PMTrue!
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Posted by hbhatnagar | 25/11/2015, 1:03 PM