Aamir has right to speak his mind

"The spiteful reactions to Aamir's words are obnoxious."

When top star Aamir Khan expressed discomfiture over increasing “intolerance” in India and said his wife Kiran Rao even suggested leaving the country, he was simply airing an opinion, his constitutional right. Khan was not the first. There were others, including his colleague Shahrukh Khan, who were airing similar views. Instead of trying to understand why Aamir Khan felt the way he did, a barrage of angry posts, taunts and outright rejection have come his way. Of course, there are sections that have supported him too. But what is causing disquiet is the fact that in today’s India, it has become next to impossible for anyone to freely express his/her opinion. This, particularly in the case of well known personalities. To make matters worse, there seems to be a group of people whose sentiments are “getting hurt” all the time on any issue – be it for dressing in a particular way, or making a film with a particular theme or for airing an opinion in public. And, the predictable next step is to file a police complaint and drag the “offending” individual to the court as if he/she had committed a crime. That there is something in the Constitution called the Right to Free Speech seems to have been forgotten or deliberately ignored.

If Aamir Khan’s angst is a cause for concern, the more worrisome trend is the spiteful reaction to anything that may be critical of the Modi government, even if indirectly. Calls to boycott Aamir Khan’s films, stop using the Snapdeal e-commerce app of which he is brand ambassador, social media posts asking him to leave the country and the latest by a Shiv Sena leader – offering Rs 1 lakh to anyone who slaps him (it was subsequently denied) – are nothing short of obnoxious. Those who are jumping into the hate bandwagon could end up denting, if not damaging, the space for dissent and free expression in India. If there is one element defining the country in comparison with many others, especially in this region, it is that there has always been a large public space for varied opinions. 

Once the right to free expression is compromised, it won’t be long before other freedoms too get diluted. Intolerance is only the catchword but behind that there is a slew of developments that is provoking people to speak out – threats to intellectuals, various restrictions on media, films and the attempts to impose a communal agenda by dictating what people should or should not eat, among others. So, when Aamir Khan expresses consternation, one should listen and ask what makes him stick his neck out and say so.