New Delhi: Superstar Aamir Khan's latest statement on ‘rising intolerance' in India is some way or the other was seen as an indirect reference on the PM Narendra Modi led NDA government's inability of control the fringe element in the party.
After his remark, the actor is now standing in the queue of noted litterateurs, historians and actors who have returned their award alleging that India is becoming intolerant.
While his statement has sparked a serious controversy in the country, the actor has suffered intense political back lashing as well.
BJP and RSS have launched a direct attack on Aamir saying “If he thinks that it is not right here in India, the country which made him superstar and where he is minting hundreds of crores, he can go to abroad”.
However, it is not for the first time when BJP and Aamir Khan crossed each other's way. The bitterness between both the parties dated back to the year 2006.
Though Aamir remained vocal on the Modi's government, NaMo never reacted to actors comment. Infact, he gave ample time to the actor when he came calling on him in Delhi, after he became PM.
Let's take a look at the incidences when Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan targeted Narendra Modi from 2006 to 2015, when the later was Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Narmada Bachao Andolan
Aamir Khan, along with the co-stars of his movie Ran De Basanti gathered at Jantar Mantar on 15 April 2006 and supported Megha Patkar who was opposing the Gujarat government's decision to increase the height of Sardar Sarovar dam.
BJP criticized Aamir for supporting the movement without knowing the ground realities.
It lead to massive protest by BJP youth wing members, thus as a result, Aamir's Rang De Basanti could not be released in major parts of the state, as Cinema hall owners association refused to run the movie.
Narendra Modi was the then CM of Gujarat.
Demolition of illegal Mazaar
A month after the first incident, Aamir Khan got another chance of targeting Modi's government in the state when Vadodra administration decided to demolish an illegal Mazaar.
In an interview given to BBC, Aamir Khan highly criticised the Modi and Gujarat government. Hinting at Vadodra and 2002 riots, Aamir said that the incident was really sad and it was government's inability to stop such things.
Use of Blackbug in Lagaan
Aamir Khan's confrontation with the then Gujarat Chief Minister reached new heights after the Gujarat Forest department speed up probe in illegal use of Blackbug in his movie Lagaan.
In 1999, Aamir's ex-wife had written to department seeking permission to use blackbug for shooting but the administration denied it citing animal preservation laws. Though, the sequence related to the animal was shoot for the movie and after that Blackbug was found to be dead.
In 2006, the forest department sent summon to Aamir Khan but the actor didn't appear in the court for the hearing citing his busy shooting schedule as the reason.
Aamir meets PM Modi
The sour relationship between Aamir and PM Modi took a big turn in 2014 when NDA stormed to power and Narendra Modi become PM of the country from Gujarat's Chief Minster.
Within a month of his swearing in, Aamir visited Narendra Modi in his office on 23 June 2014. And not only this he even tweeted the pictures of the meeting and disclosed that he talked about ‘Vote For Change' campaign with the PM. He even thanked PM Modi for giving him a good long time for the meet.
“Just came out of my meeting with Honorable Prime Minister of India Shree Narendra Modiji. Was very kind of him to spare his valuable time,” he tweeted.
All Is Well
After this high profile meeting, the nation got the impression that finally ‘All Is Well' between the two bigwigs of bollywood and political arena. It looked Aamir's perception has changed about Modi after his journey from Gandhi Nagar to New Delhi.
However, within one and half a year of that incident, Aamir and Modi's bettering relationship went south.
Intolerance Comment
Aamir Khan sparked a serious controversy after he said that India has become intolerant. He shared his insecurities regarding living in India and how his wife was thinking about leaving the country for their child's security.
This statement from Aamir Khan recalled the days of 2006, when the first incident of rift between Aamir and PM Modi came to limelight. The ‘PK' actor's comment regarding intolerance is seen as indirect assault on Modi government for disturbing the secularity of the nation.
