Is Aamir a hypocrite of the highest order?

By now supporters of Aamir Khan must be absolutely stunned at the reaction that the superstar’s comments got when he jumped into the intolerance debate. 

While the regular Twitter outrage happened and Aamir trended (negatively) to the top, he was even blasted by other Bollywood old guards like Om Puri and Raveena Tandon.  

To make matters worse he was contradicted by Muslim hardliner Asaduddin Owaisi. But in a real first, Aamir’s brand value plummeted when a product he endorsed was rubbished. 

The product in question was Snapdeal and users downgraded its ratings and uninstalled their mobile app in large numbers. More importantly, Snapdeal faced a huge revenue loss. 

So much so that it had to come out with a statement disassociating itself from Aamir’s comments. 

Even Godrej did the same even though its association with Aamir has already ended. So why was there such an unprecedented reaction to what could be called by one stretch a harmless comment? 

The main reason is that Aamir struck most Indians as nothing but a rank opportunist, hypocrite and even a liar. 

How? Let me explain.  

The rich and famous have been targeted by various regimes in the past, but that is not the case here. 

Aamir is currently enjoying the best phase of his life. Professionally he is invincible. In 2008 with Ghajini he got his first Bollywood “all-time blockbuster”. 

That record was broken by 3 Idiots in 2009. That was surpassed by Dhoom 3 in 2013. And if that wasn’t enough, PK broke all records in 2014—This despite the fact that many complained that PK hurt Hindu sentiments! Aamir is lucky and going through a purple patch. 

As far as his personal life is concerned, he got divorced, reports said that he had a love child and he got remarried. The yellow press covered all that but by and large left him alone and did not hound him like they do to others.  

More importantly, has any incident happened in Aamir’s life recently that would force him to quit India? I mean remember the way MS Dhoni’s house was stoned when India lost the 2007 ODI World Cup? Aamir has not faced such a scrutiny or wrath.  

He is generally treated well wherever he goes and even emerged as the conscious keeper of the nation with Satyamev Jayate. So India, its citizens, Bollywood and even the mainstream media has treated Aamir really well. 

Now how has Aamir treated Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Very very shabbily one must say. He joined the Modi Haters Club after 2002 and kept ranting against him and called him “anti- humanity” among other things. 

He then jumped into the Narmada Bachao Andolan which had declared Modi as its prime enemy. 

Then he joined the Modi-visa bandwagon and fought to have his visa ban stay in America. 

Modi Haters have abused and attacked the Prime Minister consistently and have refused to “tolerate” him first as Chief Minister and then as Prime Minister. 

Aamir has been very much part of this intolerant club. Now how has Modi treated Aamir? Very well one must say. When Aamir wanted to meet Modi after the general elections, the Prime Minister obliged immediately. 

To further shower warmth on Aamir, Modi made him the brand ambassador of Incredible India. So the story so far… India has treated Aamir really well. Aamir has been highly intolerant of Modi but Modi has been highly tolerant of Aamir. 

In this context, now read what Aamir had to say… “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 what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day.”  

He ranted a bit more and ended with “This feeling exists in me too.” Doesn’t this strike you as hypocrisy of the highest order? Can he be called a liar because till date he has not given even one concrete incident that led to the above? 

Can’t we allege that his motive was just to indulge in Modi bashing like everyone else is doing? 

Aamir is a rich, popular and respected icon who stays in a posh house, can afford to travel in a private jet and is surrounded by a five-star environment. Where does he see the intolerance that makes him want to leave India on a day to day basis? 

After the outrage, Aamir remained unapologetic and his statement was more of defiance. 

He quoted Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Three lines stick out from the passage he quoted… Where the world has not been broken up into fragments, by narrow domestic walls, Where words come out from the depth of truth… The question for Aamir is: Who has broken up India’s world into fragments with narrow walls? #AdarshLiberals say that Modi has no right to rule and that right belongs to the Congress. 

No matter what good Modi does he is attacked and the Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty backed. Modi will never be tolerated by the likes of Aamir and it is the height of irony that the latter talks of intolerance! 

The “depth of truth” part appears to be a joke for there appears to be absolutely no truth is what Aamir has been saying. There is a right to freedom of speech and expression in this country and this right is very strong judging by the way everyone is attacked regularly in India. 

But if you come across as a rank hypocrite and liar, then the attacks will be even more intense. Get used to it!