After Aamir Khan’s comments on intolerance in the country, fellow Bollywood star Anupam Kher quickly responded asking the actor to spread hope instead of fear.
In a couple of tweets, Kher hit out at the actor questioning when the actor had begun perceiving this intolerance only after the new regime took charge:
Dear @aamir_khan . #SatyamevaJayate u talked about evil practices but gave Hope. So even in ‘Intolerant’ times u need 2 spread Hope not Fear.
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) November 23, 2015
Dear @aamir_khan Presumed country has become #Intolerant . Wat do u suggest 2 millions of Indians? Leave India? Or wait till regime changes?
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) November 23, 2015
Dear @aamir_khan . When did ‘Incredible India’ become ‘Intolerant India’ for you? Only in the last 7-8 months? #AtithiDevoBhavah
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) November 23, 2015
Dear @aamir_khan . Did you tell Kiran that you have lived through more worse times in this country & but you never thought of moving out.
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) November 23, 2015
Dear @aamir_khan . Did you ask Kiran which country would she like to move out to? Did you tell her that this country has made you AAMIR KHAN.
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) November 23, 2015
Kher’s response is hardly surprising. Earlier this month, he led a rally to counter the allegations of intolerance, calling it #MarchForIndia . It started from the National Museum on Janpath, and went all the way to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
At the time, Kher had said,“India is a very tolerant country. Some people have coined the term ‘growing intolerance’. They are very few. Not every Indian thinks like that. We are secular people. We do not believe in pseudo-secularism, selective outrage or selective patriotism.”
Unfortunately, the rally also made headlines after people participating in the march to highlight India’s tolerance heckled a woman journalist.
But Kher’s outrage is rather selective as well. His reaction to fellow actor Shah Rukh Khan’s comment was far more muted and he instead went after a BJP MP who said that the actor should go to Pakistan.