5 examples that prove why Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan can't be blamed for their 'silence' over Padmavati row
Updated: Nov 22, 2017 | 16:52 IST | Sreeju Sudhakaran, Times Now
Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan | Photo Credit: Times Now
It is not an easy thing for a celeb to speak up on a social matter in India without facing repercussions from various political factions. Earlier this year, when Meryl Streep took down the President of the US of A, Donald Trump while giving an award acceptance speech, many fans lauded her for taking such a bold stance. Many among us even goaded our Indian stars that they should follow Streep's example and talk more about social issues whenever they accept awards. What these so-called social commentators fail to realise is that no one held a dharna in front of Streep's house asking her to apologise for her comments or place a bounty of Rs 1 crore on her head without facing repercussions. Or asking her to go to Pakistan.
The reason I am telling you this now is that Shatrughan Sinha, actor and BJP MP, had taken on Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan over their silence on the whole Padmavati row in his recent tweets. He tweeted, "As Padmavati becomes a burning controversy, people are asking why the legendary @SrBachchan, most versatile @aamir_khan & most popular @iamsrk have no comments..& how come our I&B Minister or our most popular Hon'ble PM (according to PEW) are maintaining stoic silence. High time!"
To some extent, Mr Sinha is right - Bollywood should come together in supporting Padmavati in its fight against hooliganism. But using Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan as the perceived route for this to happen is not right, considering these stars' history when it comes to making politically relevant statements. Here are five incidents that happened in the past where Aamir and SRK were targetted by political factions for speaking out their minds.
Narmada Bachao Andolan
Aamir Khan's Fanaa was banned in Gujarat after the actor had lent his support to the activist Medha Patkar-led Narmada Bachao Andolan in their fight against raising the height of Sardar Sarovar dam.
'My Name is Khan' troubles
In 2010, Shah Rukh Khan had spoken about wanting to have Pakistani cricketers in IPL. In reaction to his statement, the Shiv Sena wanted to stall the release of his movie, My Name is Khan, while asking SRK to apologise for his statement. This was also one of the earliest instances where a political party asked him to go back to Pakistan.
The Amar Singh joke
SRK's witty and sometimes sarcastic sense of humour often lands the actor in trouble many a time. During an award function in 2007, Shah Rukh Khan cracked a joke at SP leader Amar Singh's expense. While Mr Singh took the joke sportingly then and laughed it away, his followers staged protests in front of SRK's house demanding that he apologise to their leader.
The intolerance debate
During the celebrations of his 50th birthday, Shah Rukh Khan was asked about the intolerance by a channel to which he replied, ""It is stupid... It is stupid to be intolerant and this is our biggest issue, not just an issue... Religious intolerance and not being secular in this country is the worst kind of crime that you can do as a patriot." The repercussions of his statement are something which he still suffers to date. Many RW leaders asked him to go to Pakistan, Dilwale had release issues (for which SRK had to apologise for his statement), and a BJP leader wanted Raees to be banned.
The intolerance debate...part 2
This time, it was Aamir Khan who was the target. A couple of weeks after SRK's controversy, during a conference. Aamir Khan was asked about the rising intolerance in India. He confirmed of its existence, while stating that his wife (Kiran Rao) even asked him whether they should move out of India. This statement of his caused a lot of outrage, with many political leaders slamming Khan for his statement, as well as members of Khan's own fraternity like Anupam Kher. Aamir had to later issue a statement saying that he has no intentions of shifting to a different country. He said, "I feel fortunate being born here and this is where I am staying."
When your nationality is questioned every time when you speak about an issue, we can't really blame these stars for not being vocal about their support to any social issue. Can we?
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