Showing posts with label religious tolerance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religious tolerance. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

India Citizenship Bill Debate (2)

India Citizenship Bill Debate
Biometric ID And Citizenship Solutions
India's Contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill
2019 Photos
Has India Gone Crazy?

The bill could have been specific, like Minority Refugees From Afghanistan, Pakistan And Bangladesh Act 2019. That would have meant this bill is nothing to do with the 200 million Muslims in India who are citizens, whether or not they have papers. And the government could have in the aftermath given specific numbers like, we think about 30,000 or 300,000 or three million people will qualify under this.

That specificity would still have raised questions. Why only these three countries? Why not all neighboring countries? Why not Nepal? Sri Lanka? Bhutan? Burma? Maldives? What about Muslim minorities from the three countries? And they would have been valid questions. But at least the 200 million Muslim citizens of India would have not been part of the question.

But right now the protests roiling the nation are putting two and two together and crying four. There is the government attempt to create a national registry of citizens, apparently for the first time. I can see the point behind such a registry. A country has to know who its citizens are. But then to that you add a bill comprehensively called the Citizenship Amendment Bill, and a lot of people are seeing this as an attempt not to welcome foreign refugees, but to mass detain millions of legitimate Muslim citizens of India who know no other country. This is no minor blind spot.

There might be religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. There are those who say there is religious persecution inside India. There have been lynchings in recent years, a new phenomenon in Indian politics.

Citizenship is a major issue in Nepal, and it is a Hindu majority country. The southern plains of Nepal were part of India when the Mughals ruled Delhi. Then the British gifted that belt to Nepal in reward for the Nepali help to put down the 1857 mutiny. Millions of people in that belt to this day are denied Nepali citizenship for being "Indian origin." And India helplessly watches, even though it claims it has better relations with Nepal than any other country. What gives?

Religious persecution in neighboring countries can not be made an internal matter of India. It requires supra-national efforts.

Being welcoming of refugees is a good policy for every nation. But I don't get the impression the protests are anti-refugee. The protesters largely fear the bill will be used to carry out large scale religious persecution inside India.

India can not become a global power with such small-mindedness.

And in the backdrop you have a tanking economy. To many the whole exercise feels like a diversion from that tanking economy.





India citizenship law protests: All the latest updates Supreme Court delays hearing of pleas challenging the new law to January 22 amid widespread protests across the country. ....... Protests against India's new citizenship law have spread across the country as 200 million Muslims fear the legislation is part of the Hindu nationalist government's agenda to marginalise them. ...... In the northeastern parts of India, the protests are mainly against allowing any "foreign migrant" from Bangladesh - irrespective of religion - to settle in the region....... On December 15, more than 100 students were injured and dozens arrested after police stormed New Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), located 130km (81 miles) from the capital, to disperse the protests against the contentious law........... India's Supreme Court has refused to stall the implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which has triggered massive protests across the country. ...... The court sent a notice to the federal government, asking it to respond to nearly 60 petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the law. The next hearing will be held on January 22, Reuters news agency said......... The petitioners argue that religion cannot be the basis of granting citizenship to undocumented migrants. The new law, they say, is against the secular principles of India's constitution.......... India's main opposition Congress party and the Asom Gana Parishad party, an ally of the ruling BJP in Assam state, are among those who have filed the petitions. .......... In the country's north, police said 113 people were detained for objectionable social media posts after violent demonstrations there....... A delegation of opposition leaders, led by Congress party's interim president Sonia Gandhi, has met Indian President Ram Nath Kovind over the Jamia Millia Islamia violence......... "We have an example in Delhi where police entered Jamia women's hostel and dragged them out [and] mercilessly beat students," Gandhi told reporters .......... Addressing an election rally in poll-bound Jharkhand state, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the opposition parties are "urban naxals firing off your [protesting students'] shoulders". ........ "Urban naxals" is usually used by India's right-wing forces to describe activists working on tribal and minority rights......... Leader of the Congress party, Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of interim president Sonia Gandhi and sister of senior party leader Rahul, sat for a protest at the India Gate war memorial in New Delhi against the police crackdown on student campuses....... "The prime minister should answer what happened at the university yesterday. Whose government beat up the students?" .........

Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said his government has asked India for information on undocumented Bangladeshis so they could be repatriated

...... "The Indian government has been telling us repeatedly that they aren't pushing anyone into Bangladesh. We asked them to inform us about anyone living there illegally. We have a standard procedure for this issue. They will be repatriated as per the procedure," he told journalists in Dhaka........... Prime Minister Modi blamed vested interest groups for "creating the disturbance".

"I want to unequivocally assure my fellow Indians that CAA [Citizens Amendment Act] does not affect any citizen of India of any religion... This Act is only for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no other place to go except India," he tweeted.

....... "The CAB [Citizenship Amendment Bill, now a law] and NRC [National Register of Citizens] are

weapons of mass polarisation

unleashed by fascists on India. The best defence against these dirty weapons is peaceful, non-violent Satyagraha [insistence on truth]," tweeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. "I stand in solidarity with all those protesting peacefully against the CAB & NRC."




Has India's Narendra Modi gone too far with controversial new citizenship law? Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian government has stripped the country's only Muslim-majority state of autonomy and rolled out a citizenship check in the northeastern state of Assam that effectively left nearly 2 million people stateless, many of them Muslims. ........ And when Modi backed the passage of a controversial new citizenship law, which prioritizes immigrants from three Muslim-majority countries of virtually every religious stripe over Islam, protests broke out across India. ........ To Modi's critics, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) -- which fast-tracks applications for immigrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who arrived in India before 2015 -- has become

the most brazen example of a Hindu nationalist agenda aimed at marginalizing Indian Muslims

. ...... Since the law passed through both houses of Parliament last week, demonstrations have swept university campuses in at least nine states. Protesters have taken to the streets across Assam and Tripura over fears that large numbers of Hindus, who migrated to the region in the past few decades, will now be able to get their citizenship fast-tracked. Many there fear it will dramatically recast the religious and ethnic makeup of the northeastern states -- home to 200 distinct indigenous groups. .......

critics are worried it might pave the way for nationwide citizenship tests, stripping the rights of Muslims who have lived in India for generations but cannot prove their family's lineage -- turning countless people stateless.

........ Home Minister Amit Shah has repeatedly said that the government will roll out a national citizenship registry. ...... Modi tried to reassure the public on Monday, saying on Twitter that the new law "does not affect any citizen of India of any religion." And that "no Indian has anything to worry" about....... But when a citizenship registry took place in Assam earlier this year it left 1.9 million people off a list of Indian citizens. The government said at the time that no one would be declared a foreigner if they are not on the list, but that failed to temper concerns........ What is at stake is "the future of liberal democracy in India," Vaishnav said. "And it looks like a side, which has been asleep or at least silent, has really woken up and made sure that their voices are being heard." ...... The protests are sure to have caught Modi -- who has developed a reputation for being a Teflon premier -- somewhat off guard. ..... As protests roiled the country over the weekend, the government shut down the internet in several affected states in a bid to maintain law and order........ in spite of mounting grievances, analysts think it is unlikely that the BJP will scrap the law. "Modi still remains, head and shoulders, the most popular politician in India" ......

India lacks a foreplan for what comes next. Its detention centers do not have the capacity needed to house "millions of people that could potentially be caught up," if a nationwide citizenship check is rolled out

...... there appears to be no existing talks with neighboring countries, like Bangladesh, on the issue of deportation ....... "Are you going to see large numbers of Muslims detained or lose their citizenship? It is a game of wait and see."


India Citizenship Bill Debate



The bill is roiling the nation. It is a volatile situation. Some of those defending the bill are saying this will not impact the 200 million Muslims in India, this will only impact about 30,000 refugees from the named three countries. If that is true, why is that point not being emphasized? The communication is faulty. The bill's language itself is faulty. The bill's name is faulty. The name is too comprehensive to give that kind of meaning.

Biometric ID And Citizenship Solutions
India's Contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill
2019 Photos
Has India Gone Crazy?

Thursday, March 24, 2016

भारतके मुसलमान: पाँचवा कास्ट

भारत में मुसलमानो को पाँचवा कास्ट बना के रखा गया है। बहुत गलत बात है। मुसलमानों का अपना एक अलग धर्म है। जातपात मानना ही है तो आप उसको अपने धर्म तक सीमित रखो। दुसरों पर लाद तो नहीं सकते।

दलित को चौथा कास्ट। मुसलमानो को पाँचवा कास्ट। दलितों और मुसलमानो के प्रति व्यक्ति आय में वही दिखता है।

दलित को चौथा कास्ट और मुसलमानो को पाँचवा कास्ट बना के रखे रहो तब तक भारत विश्व शक्ति बन ही नहीं सकता, संभव ही नहीं। कास्ट सिस्टम ख़त्म करो, गरीबी ख़त्म करो, तो विश्व शक्ति बन जाओगे। कास्ट सिस्टम भगवान का नहीं इंसान का बनाया है। इंसान ख़त्म भी कर सकता है।

मानव अधिकार तो भारत के संविधान में सुरक्षित है। कोई भी व्यक्ति या संगठन या फिर खुद सरकार ही मानव अधिकार का हनन करे तो भारतका कोई भी नागरिक पुलिस और कचहरी कहीं भी जा के नालिस कर सकता है। एक नागरिक काफी है। अगर कोई एक भी आदमी आगे नहीं आता तो ये तो संविधान की कमजोरी नहीं। अपनी रीढ़ की हड्डी जरा मजबुत करो। Legal Defense Fund खड़े करो। कानुनी लड़ाई लड़ो।

जन धन का सुरक्षा एक आधुनिक राज्य (state) का प्रथम दायित्व होता है। लोकतंत्र में gender violence, caste violence, religious violence के लिए कोई जगह नहीं। दंगे नहीं होने चाहिए। जिस तरह cyclone के लिए Early Warming System होती है, उसी तरह दंगो को बिलकुल नाकाम किया जा सकता है। ये एक law and order problem है। अगर कहीं दंगा होता है तो हुवा कि पुलिस अपना काम नहीं कर रही।

हैदराबाद के जो ओवैसी दो भाईजान हैं उन्हें मैं कइ महिनों से बड़े गौर से देख रहा हुँ। मजलिस का नाम सिर्फ वही एक शब्द नहीं हो सकता क्या? पुरा नाम तो एक ब्रांडिंग प्रॉब्लम है।

दुसरा बात है अकबर ओवैसी साहब को कहुंगा, आप इतने अच्छे बोल लेते हो। लेकिन एक जगह मैंने यूट्यूब पर सुना आप ने कहा, १५ मिनट पुलिस रस्ते से हट जाओ सिर्फ और तब देखो। तो वो तो वाक स्वतंत्रता नहीं हुई। लोकतंत्र में हिंसा भी allow नहीं है और हिंसा के लिए आह्वान करो मंच पर से, वो भी allow नहीं है। लोकतंत्र ही तो ताकत है आप की। लोकतंत्र को मानो। बल्कि मंच पर से बोलो, कानुन अपने हाथ में मत लो, सशक्त होना है तो संगठित हो जाओ।

मजलिस की लोकतान्त्रिक संभावना विश्व राजनीति तक है। लोकतंत्र का सन्देश दुनिया के सभी मुसलमानों तक पहुँचाना है। वो काम मजलिस कर सकती है। लेकिन उसके लिए लोकतंत्र को मानना होगा।

गुजरात, उससे पहले भागलपुर, और तो और खुद पार्टीशन के समय ---- बहुत हताहत हुवे। अपने कौम का दर्द महसुस होना एक अच्छे नेता का खुबी है। लेकिन उस दर्द को शक्ति में बदलने के राह पर चलो। और रास्ता है लोकतंत्र का। अहिंसा का।

संगठित हो जाओ। सशक्त हो जाओगे। शिक्षित हो जाओ। समृद्ध हो जाओगे। बस। अल्लाह का ये जो क्रिएशन है उसको appreciate करो। Appreciate करने का रास्ता है math and science.

मजलिस का और तो और खुद हैदराबाद में मेयर नहीं। खुद अपने राज्य में मुख्य मंत्री नहीं। कमसेकम हैदराबाद में मेयर अपनी पार्टी के बना के दिखाओ। भारत भर के मुसलमान पहले ये देखना चाहते हैं कि आपकी पार्टी govern कर सकती है कि नहीं। एक दो बड़े शहरों में सरकार चला के तो दिखाओ।

मुसलमान समुदाय से राजनीति शुरू की अच्छी बात है, लेकिन एक बड़ा शहर चलाने के लिए सभी समुदाय को अपील करना होता है। तो करो। कुछ आएंगे, कुछ नहीं। उनकी मर्जी।

लोकतंत्र, मानव अधिकार, गणतंत्र, संघीयता, समावेशीता
सुशासन, शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य, संरचना, सुलभता 
E for Education, E for Entrepreneurship, E for Energy

दुनिया के तीन में एक गरीब भारत में है। भारत ही तो है सारी दुनिया को गरीब बना के रखे हुवे है। मजलिस के पास विश्व राजनीति हिला देने की सम्भावना है।






































Friday, November 27, 2015

Aamir Khan And The India Intolerance Debate



आमिर खान बोलें --- ये गर्व की बात है, हिम्मत की बात है। बोलना चाहिए। ताकि पब्लिक विचार विमर्श हो इस मुद्दे पर। आमिर खान लोगों के दिल में रहते हैं। हिन्दु मुस्लिम फर्क नहीं पड़ता। और उनका करियर दिलचस्प रहा है। मेनस्ट्रीम सुपरस्टार रह के उन्होंने बहुत सारे experimental roles ही नहीं किए हैं, फोर्मुला सिनेमा से अलग जा के भी बॉक्स ऑफिस सफलता दिखा दिया है। जैसे कि PK, फोर्मुला फिल्म नहीं है लेकिन सारे रिकॉर्ड तोड़ दिए। तो, he is not just a movie star, which he is, there is ample proof, लेकिन उनका अपना एक जगह है भारतीय पहचान में। He is an element of the Indian identity, and I am so glad that is the case. वो critically सोचते हैं और अपने दिलकी बोलते हैं। ये एक ऐसा quality है जिसकी भारत के शिक्षा के क्षेत्र को बहुत जरूरत है। टॉपिक कुछ भी हो।

रह गयी अभी वाली मुद्दा की बात।

भारत इतना बड़ा देश है। जितना और देशों में मेजोरिटी नहीं होता है उससे बड़ा भारत में माइनॉरिटी है। मैं जब भारत के मुसलमानों के बारे में सोचता हुँ तो मेरा ध्यान जाता है socio-economic indicators पे, मेरा ध्यान जाता है per capita income पे। कि democracy has to be seen to be working for India's muslims.

प्रत्येक भारतीय का धर्म हिन्दु धर्म नहीं है, लेकिन प्रत्येक भारतीय का धर्म लोकतंत्र है। और मानव अधिकार उस लोकतंत्र धर्म की नींव है। मानव अधिकार नहीं तो लोकतंत्र नहीं। सीधी सी बात है। धार्मिक स्वतंत्रता एक मानव अधिकार है। किसी भी व्यक्ति को हक़ है कि वोअपने इच्छा के धर्म को मानें। कोइ हिन्दु परिवार में जन्म ले के ईसाइ या बुद्धिस्ट या मुसलमान बन सकता है। ये उसका मानव अधिकार है। और वो संविधान प्रदत अधिकार है। देशकी जो मुल कानुन है उसके द्वारा सुरक्षित है वो अधिकार।

लेकिन उतने से काम नहीं चलता। १२ साल हाई स्कूल कंपल्सरी होना चाहिए देश भरमें और एक विषय होना चाहिए सामाजिक शिक्षा जिसमें मानव अधिकार, लोकतंत्र, नागरिक कर्तव्य, बिभिन्न्न धर्मों के बारे में, सांस्कृतिक विविधता के बारे में पढाई हो। प्रमुख धर्मों के बारे में पढाई होनी चाहिए ताकि प्रत्येक नागरिक शिक्षित हो प्रत्येक नागरिक को सभी प्रमुख धर्मों के बारे में ज्ञान हो।

हिंसा अपराध है। चाहे वो धर्म को नाम पे हो या और कोई बहाने पर हो। तो hate crime के विरुद्ध सख्त कानुन होने चाहिए और उनको लागु किया जाना चाहिए। दंगा के विरुद्ध सख्त मैकेनिज्म होने चाहिए। दंगा एक लॉ एंड आर्डर प्रॉब्लम है। सोल्व किया जा सकता है।

हिंसा के अलाबे discrimination. रिपोर्ट आते रहते हैं कि मुस्लमान को घर किराए पर नहीं दिया। वो व्यवहार गैर कानुनी नहीं है तो होना चाहिए। प्राइवेट सेक्टर में नौकरी के तलाश में जाते हैं तो मुसलमान होने के नाते discrimination नहीं होने चाहिए।

लेकिन सब से मुख्य मुद्दा है education, health, job creation, entrepreneurship. मुसलमान बस्तियों में ये सब पहुँचाना है। मुसलमान जम के पढाई लिखाई करे और खुदका बिजनेस शुरू करे। लोगों को नौकरी दे।

और एक होता है public space का poisoning ----- कुछ लोग पब्लिक फिगर होते हुवे भी बहुत गलत बोल देते हैं। इस समुदाय के विरुद्ध तो कभी उस समुदाय के विरुद्ध। तो उसका काउंटर होना बहुत जरुरी है।

Hindu pride is a great idea, but Hindu supremacist thinking is not okay. आप गर्व करो। लेकिन पिछले साल जो लव जिहाद और घर वापसी के मुद्दे उछाले गए, बहुत गलत बात है। प्यार, मुहबत, शादी तो किसी की प्राइवेट बात है। कभी हिन्दु और मुसलमान एक जगह आ जाते हैं, जैसे की आमिर और शाहरुख़। करीना कपुर। तो ये  सुन्दर बात है। उसमें आपको लव जिहाद कैसे दिखाई दिया?

घर वापसी का मुद्दा भी उल्टापुल्टा है। भारत के भुमि पर जितने हैं सबको हिन्दु होना चाहिए ---- ये कितना अव्यवहारिक बात है! भुमि और मानव को उस तरह mixup मत करो। धार्मिक स्वतंत्रता तो मानव अधिकार है। किसी व्यक्ति की ख़ुशी की वो किस धर्म को अपनावे। Religious harassment should be illegal -----

बीफ। हिन्दु है कोइ बीफ नहीं खाता है -- तो that is respectable --- लेकिन ये कहने लगे कि खुद भी नहीं खाउंगा तुझे भी खाने नहीं दुंगा --- वो तो मोदीजी रिश्वत के बारे में वैसा बोलते हैं। कि खुद भी नहीं खाउंगा तुझे भी खाने नहीं दुंगा। बीफ और रिश्वत में कुछ तो फर्क होना चाहिए। आप अपना धर्म दुसरो पर कैसे थोपर सकते हो? Religious harassment should be illegal -----

मुसलमान बीफ नहीं खायेगा तो क्या खायेगा? खरगोश?

बल्कि हिन्दु धर्म प्रचार करने जाओ। जाओ दुनिया घुमो। जूलिया रॉबर्ट्स ने कन्वर्ट किया वो हिन्दु बन गयी। उन्हें अच्छा लगा। तो वैसे लोग ढूंढो। लेकिन कोइ आएगा तो स्वेच्छा से आएगा। किसी का मानव अधिकार हनन करने स्टाइल में आप धर्म प्रचार नहीं कर सकते।

India's diversity is India's strength. अभी तो भारत चीन से भी पिछे है। But if someday India is to beat America, it will be because India started celebrating free speech better than America, India started celebrating diversity better than America.

तो जो लोग भारत के भितर धार्मिक असहिष्णुता का जहर फैलाते हैं, वो भारत को विश्व शक्ति बनने के रास्ते पर नहीं ले जाना चाहते। जो थोड़ा बहुत शक्ति है भारत के पास वो भी चाहते हैं गायब हो जाए।

Democracy और Diversity में गहरा विश्वास रखने वाले लोगों को बोलते रहना चाहिए और संगठित होना चाहिए। वो देशप्रेम का सच्चा रूप है जो कि आमिर दिखा रहे हैं। मैं तो वैसे भी बड़ा फैन था, अब और बड़ा फैन हो गया।




Intolerance row: Agra Muslims condemn Aamir Khan's statement
Talking to India Today, Imran Qureshi of Bhartiya Muslim Vikas Parishad said the Muslims of India were born on this land and will be buried in this land.
Local Social activist Md. Arif Advocate said that it was questionable that the Aamir who had produced a patriotic movie like Lagaan, could have made such a statement. In fact, he said, Aamir was just voicing the thoughts of his wife who is a Hindu. ....... Imamuddin, a senior citizen aged 96 years, said that during the Friday Namaz, it was prayed that Aamir regains his senses and the country remains at peace.
Aamir Khan's PK Wouldn't Have Been a Success if India Was Intolerant: Shatrughan Sinha
Mr Khan's remarks expressing his "alarm and despondency" over the rise in recent incidents of intolerance hotly debated, he had again yesterday asserted that he stood by his comments and made it clear that neither he nor his wife Kiran Rao had any intention of leaving the country.
Shatrughan disapproves of Aamir’s remark on intolerance
Last thing Indian Muslims need: Naseer on Aamir's intolerance row
Veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah has expressed concern over Aamir Khan’s intolerance remark saying that it may cause further problems for the Muslims of India. ..... “I don’t think he [Aamir] should have said this. Regardless of what he feels, we Muslims do not need any further aggravation of our feeling of persecution,” said Shah. ..... Earlier, Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman expressed solidarity with Aamir Khan over growing intolerance in India and admitted that he too faced a situation similar to that of the actor recently. ......

The music maestro spoke in relation to the fatwa issued against him by Mumbai-based Muslim academy for composing music for an Iranian film. Subsequently, his scheduled concerts in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh were cancelled.

..... The fatwa also prompted Hindu extremists to bring up the issue of religious conversions. They invited the composer to “re-convert to Hinduism” and said it was time for Rahman’s “ghar wapsi“. ..... “Aamir Khan should either indulge in ‘ghar wapsi’ which will help him getting free of ‘crimes of love jihad’ of his previous as well as his present wife Kiran Rao or go to Pakistan for the benefit of India,” Hindu Mahasabha’s national general secretary Munna Kumar Sharma said. ...... “A case of treason should be filed against Khan for insulting India and traitors like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan should leave India,” he added.
Aamir Khan safe in India, his comments are insult to fans: BJP
“We won’t let Aamir leave the country, he is safe. This kind of comment influenced by a politically motivated campaign insults those who have given so much honour to Aamir in India,” said Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Minister of State for Minority Affairs. ....... reacting to Aamir’s statement, Kiren Rijiju, the junior home minister claimed that the number of deaths in communal incidents had come down since BJP came to power last year and “to make a blatant statement is not proper.” ..... Incidences of communal violence have been growing in India, with a mob killing a Muslim man over beef-eating rumours in September. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, facing questions during his recent trip to Britain, said,

“India is committed to protecting every citizen’s freedom, and the law will deal severely with those who are intolerant.”

......... Speaking at Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, Aamir had said, “I have been alarmed. I can’t deny. I have been alarmed by a number of incidents.”
Intolerance debate: Hindu Sena buys Aamir Khan, family tickets to Pakistan!
Hindu Sena, the group that booked a one-way ticket for Khan, his wife Kiran Rao and their son, was in news last month after they led a Delhi police patrolling team into Kerala House claiming that a restaurant there was serving cow meat. Vishnu Gupta, the head of the group, was arrested and later released on bail.
Aamir Khan Intolerance Row: Woman commits suicide after husband criticizes actor
A dispute with her husband over remarks by Bollywood actor Aamir Khan saw a woman here committing suicide by consuming poison, her family members claimed. Police said they are investigating the alleged suicide by one Sonam Pandey and the claims by her family members that she took the extreme step as she was distressed by her husband's comments mocking Khan. ...... "Sonam Pandey and her husband Mayank were talking about newspaper reports about Khan's statement yesterday morning. My son poked fun at Sonam, saying what kind of man is the Bollywood star, who wants to settle abroad on the advice of his wife," said Mayank's father, RP Pandey. Angered by her husband's criticism of Khan, Sonam ran upstairs and locked herself inside a room, he added.
Shatrughan Sinha disapproves of Aamir Khan's remark on intolerance
No one can ask Aamir to leave India, says West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee extended support to Bollywood actor Aamir Khan who is at the centre of a controversy over his remarks on 'growing intolerance' in the country.

“They have criticised actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan and musician A R Rahman. Who are they to decide what we will say or what we will eat?,” the CM said.

Aamir Khan has said what he felt; India belongs to everyone: Mamata Banerjee



Aamir Khan: India Bollywood actor stands by intolerance remark
The ruling BJP said he should not forget that India made him a star, and it was wrong to malign the country. ...... "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," the actor wrote. ...... Khan said he stood by his earlier statement, and added that all those people who had called him "anti-national" and shouted "obscenities at me for speaking my heart out, it saddens me to say you are only proving my point". ...... BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain had criticised Khan's remarks and said there was a "political conspiracy to defame India" and there was "no better neighbour than a Hindu for a Muslim". ..... Another BJP spokesperson, Sambit Patra, said that "Aamir Khan is the face of 'Incredible India' [a TV campaign by Mr Khan to promote tourism], how can he make such a remark? I request Aamir Khan not to leave India and he won't find another nation like it". ..... Earlier this month, fellow superstar Shah Rukh Khan also spoke out against what he called "extreme intolerance" in India. .....A movement that began with writers returning state awards spread to scientists, historians and filmmakers. ......

They cited the killing of rationalists MM Kalburgi and Govind Pansare, as well as the lynching of a man over suspicions he consumed beef, as examples of rising intolerance in the country.

Aamir Khan clearly played to a script, and it does not do him credit
Given the nature of minority politics in India, where such issues are drummed up by "secular" parties to ensure that the minorities continue to vote on the basis of fear rather than pursuing their real economic and political interests ..... What Khan's statement reveals is his decision to fall in line with the dominant narrative being tom-tommed by the mainstream English media that has been left out in the cold by Narendra Modi. Incidentally, an interesting aspect of the rising English media chorus of "growing intolerance" is that it is not supported by any kind of data or a benchmark from which this "rise" can be calculated. Barring a cacophony of statements by Sanghis, there is no evidence whatsoever that there is any actual rise in intolerance. ........... Aamir's calculated statement can at best be put down as another voice added to this self-indulgent and self-righteous echo chamber in the English language media. ...... First, I doubt if anybody in India thinks we have nothing to fear, given the state of our policing, our weak legal systems, and the space we have given to criminals and vested interests in cities and villages. I too would fear for the safety of my daughters in India, especially given the patriarchal nature of our society and its inability to bring up its sons to respect women.

We have strong laws and a weak state, making it near impossible to assume that we will be protected from rabid elements.

......... Many Indians have left Indian shores for better prospects, and it is this diaspora that believes in Modi and his idea of India by and large. From businessmen to ordinary students to techies, Indians have always sought to improve their material condition by taking advantage of merit-based systems in the West. The poor, on the other hand, went to West Asia to earn more while living like second-class citizens, whether in Saudi Arabia or even parts of the UAE. After decades, they are still not given citizenship. ......

In the sub-continent, Hindus and Muslims from Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, and now even Pakistan have, legally or illegally, moved into India as economic or political refugees. The Nepalese have been welcomed like they were our own citizens, and despite some hesitation to accept Muslim economic refugees from Bangladesh, they are here and voting their own leaders in Assam, West Bengal and Bihar.

...... If there is a beacon of tolerance in the sub-continent, it is India. The only areas of long-term intolerance (as opposed to short-term intolerance caused by riots) are in Kashmir, where an entire generation of Pandits has been driven out in the worst act of ethnic cleansing ever practised after 1947. ..... The fringe will be the fringe, and there is no point assuming that in a country of 125 crore, no one will ever make politically-incorrect statements. ...... Two years ago, a white supremacist shot people in a gurdwara in Wisconsin. Over the last two years, we have seen race riots after the shooting of African-Americans in Ferguson and Baltimore by trigger-happy cops.

When his name is Khan, can Aamir really expect to be treated as an equal in America?

....... The far right is rising under Marine Le Pen. The face veil is banned in France, not in India. ...... For a country with 125 crore people and all their multiple diversities, insecurities and concerns involving caste, religion, and ethnicity, we are a mighty tolerant lot. ........ This does not also mean that the Sangh hotheads should continue to vitiate the atmosphere. Modi would do well to put a tape across their mouths or even chuck them out of his ministry. But that still will be no guarantee that someone will not make an intolerant statement somewhere...... Surely, Aamir Khan does not want a state where everyone is gagged. That would be even more intolerant than the intolerance he would like to complain about.
I stand by everything I have said: Aamir Khan on his comments about intolerance
The actor ended his statement by quoting Rabindranath Tagore's famous poem, "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, Where knowledge is free, Where the world has not been broken up into fragments, by narrow domestic walls, Where words come out from the depth of truth, ..... "Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection, Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way, Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit, Where the mind is led forward by thee, Into ever-widening thought and action, Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake."
Aamir Khan: India home minister Rajnath Singh's jibe at actor
Without naming Khan, Rajnath Singh told the parliament that despite insults, iconic Dalit leader "BR Ambedkar never said he would leave India". ..... "Dr BR Ambedkar had to put up with insults and derision. Yet, he controlled his emotion and put forward an objective point of view for India. He never said how he was being ignored and insulted in India," Mr Singh said in his remarks in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the parliament...... "He said I will stay in India and keeping the Indian values and culture in mind, I will strengthen the country," Mr Singh added. ..... Despite his clarification, the controversy refuses to die down and the home minister's comments are seen as the latest salvo fired at him by BJP politicians. ..... However, the session is likely to be a stormy one, with opposition parties demanding a debate on "growing intolerance" in the country. ..... BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said the government was "willing to discuss all issues, including the so-called issue of rising intolerance even though the incidents that happened were in the domain of states… We do not support or condone such incidents".
Controversy Over Aamir's 'Intolerance' Remarks Refuses to Die
BJP national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain advised Khan to visit his ancestral village Akhtiyaarpur in Hardoi district in Uttar Pradesh and see for himself with how much love and harmony people live there. ...... Hussain said that Aamir left the village at an early age and joined Bollywood, but people there still believe in 'Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb', a term used to describe mutually participatory co-existence of Hindu and Muslim culture. He was talking to reporters in Lucknow.
Anupam Kher Lashes Out At Aamir Khan, Asks Him To 'Spread Hope Not Fear'
Aamir Khan has insulted India with intolerance statement, says Ramdas Athawale
Senior Shiv Sena leader and the state Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam on Tuesday said Khan "can go to Pakistan" if he didn't love India. "The police should also conduct an inquiry whether Aamir's statement is anti-national," he said.
An open letter to Aamir Khan
Your name is Khan and you Sir, are a hypocrite.
Aamir Khan’s answer at RNG awards an innocent one: PK director Rajkumar Hirani
Coming out in support of under fire Aamir Khan, director Rajkumar Hirani stoutly defended his 'PK' star.
the director said, “Aamir Khan didn’t call for a press conference. He was at an award function where he was asked questions on various topics and one of the topics was this which he answered and his answer was I was distressed and sad that my wife once said this to me. To me it is an innocent answer. He spoke about what was said inside his home affairs in public and one should have ignored it. But the way people jumped and attacked him, intolerance was visible.” ..... For Raju, the most distressing factor was linking Aamir’s statements to his Muslim identity. Said Raju, “His statements were then linked to him being a Muslim. Such a thought never crossed my mind.

I have celebrated every Diwali at Aamir’s place.

The way these talks are spreading through social media, some divide is visible. We should pick positive things in life and talk about it.”