Intolerance row: Shah Rukh Khan defends Aamir Khan, says no need for anyone to prove his patriotism
A week after Aamir Khan spoke about growing intolerance in the country, Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has said that one does not need to prove his patriotism, according to IBN.
Extending a hand of support to Aamir, he also said that he will now be addressing only those issues on which he has detailed knowledge, reported ibnlive.com.
“You don’t have to be proving your patriotism in any other way, except for thinking good for the country and doing good. You have to work for the benefit of the country. If I work for the country in the most kindest way in what I am good at, my country is going to benefit from that. But if I am corrupt, and regional about it, I will be harming my country,” the report said quoting Shah Rukh.
Shah Rukh also claimed that even a generic statement can be turned into radical statements by people. “Twitter and social media is about free voice, people do take very radical steps, they get abusive,” he added.
Last week, Aamir Khan had joined the debate on the growing ‘intolerance’ and had said he was”alarmed” by a number of incidents, and that his wife Kiran Rao even suggested that they should probably leave the country.
Speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Awards event Aamir had said, “When I chat with Kiran at home, she says ‘Should we move out of India?’ That’s a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day. That does indicate that there is this sense of growing disquiet, there is growing despondency apart from alarm. You feel why this is happening, you feel low. That sense does exist in me.”
However, after two days, the actor clarified that neither him nor his wife Kiran, have any intention of leaving the country as he is proud to be an Indian, and stand by everything that he said in my interview.
The brand ambassador of ‘Incredible India’ campaign also said that he is proud to be an Indian national and does not need anyone’s permission to prove his Indianness.
In his statement, Aamir said, “First let me state categorically that neither I, nor my wife Kiran, have any intention of leaving the country. We never did, and nor would we like to in the future. Anyone implying the opposite has either not seen my interview or is deliberately trying to distort what I have said. India is my country, I love it, I feel fortunate for being born here, and this is where I am staying.”
He also thanked to all the people who stood by him. “We have to protect what this beautiful and unique country of ours really stands for. We have to protect its integrity, diversity, inclusiveness, its many languages, its culture, its history, its tolerance, it’s concept of ekantavada, it’s love, sensitivity and its emotional strength.”
Read full article: DNA India
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