Today Shah Rukh Khan turned 50, the superstar was deeply anguished by the rise of intolerance in Modi’s India much like so many of his cinema brethren, intellectuals and activists.
This is what Shah Rukh Khan said in a twitter townhall hosted by none other than Rajdeep Sardesai himself:
“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,” he said,
About returning his Padma Shree – “I mean just for a symbolic gesture, yes, if I have to.”
Here is a link to the video – http://indiatoday.intoday.in/video/there-is-extreme-intolerance-in-india-says-shahrukh-khan/1/513874.html
Shah Rukh Khan just gave us the true definition of a patriot. A patriot is someone who is tolerant as far as his religious beliefs are concerned and is extremely secular in approach. Probably Shah Rukh Khan Sahib saw too much of secularism in Congress’s regime. And why not – In Congress Regime, an archaic bill called Communal Violence Bill was drafted. It was intended at the sole purpose of curbing the so called religious freedom of the Majority. In Congress’s regime, so many minority friendly bills were being tabled, freebies were being doled out to minorities, newer reservation groups were being created, and riot compensations were being issued based on the deceased’s religions. Now in Modi’s India, the Congress like secularism has somewhat vanished and since the Hindu Majority of India is now more vocal about their electoral choices both on and offline, it is easy to brand it as ‘their’ religious intolerance, powerful enough to trigger a chain reaction of award return drama.
While all stats indicate that the communal conflicts have shown a downward trend, super star Shah Rukh Khan chose to underline the rising intolerance in India hypothesis. The fact is that it is the religious tolerance of the Majority Hindus of India that has helped below average actors like Shah Rukh and Salman attain godly statuses and an average actor cum social activist cum Hindu Dharma Purifier Aamir Khan attain the status of a cinema legend. Dear Shah Rukh Khan, had Indians (80% of them are Hindus) been intolerant in matters of religion, you would never have been accepted as one of the biggest cine-stars ever. Dear Shah Rukh Khan, had Indians (80% of them are Hindus) been intolerant in matters of religion, you would never have become a household name. Dear Shah Rukh Khan, had Indians (80% of them are Hindus) been intolerant in matters of religion, you would never have been able to live a life, that even kings dream of. Dear Shah Rukh Khan, had Indians (80% of them are Hindus) been intolerant in matters of religion, you would never have had the opportunity to issue statements about religious intolerance in India.