Thursday, Mar 28, 2024 | Last Update : 05:00 PM IST

  ‘Aamir’s comment on intolerance wasn’t serious’

‘Aamir’s comment on intolerance wasn’t serious’

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Nov 25, 2015, 6:17 am IST
Updated : Nov 25, 2015, 6:17 am IST

Pawar plays down comment, Cong leader Vikhe-Patil calls it ‘exaggeration’; Sena calls actor ‘snake’

Members of the Hindu Sena protested outside the residence Bollywood actor Aamir Khan on Tuesday. (Photo:Rajesh Jadhav)
 Members of the Hindu Sena protested outside the residence Bollywood actor Aamir Khan on Tuesday. (Photo:Rajesh Jadhav)

Pawar plays down comment, Cong leader Vikhe-Patil calls it ‘exaggeration’; Sena calls actor ‘snake’

Even as actor Aamir Khan faced severe criticism from Hindutva parties, the self-proclaimed secular parties also did not support the actor regarding his comments about leaving the country, an issue that has snowballed into a major controversy. While NCP chief Sharad Pawar termed the actor’s comments as non-serious, Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil termed it as “exaggeration”.

Mr Pawar was at Pogarwadi in Satara district on Tuesday to meet family members of Col Mahadik. Famous for being the village of soldiers, Pogarwadi residents on Thursday bid a tearful adieu to 37-year-old Col Mahadik, who was martyred during a fierce gunbattle with militants in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

When Mr Pawar was asked about Aamir’s statement on the sidelines of his visit to the Mahadik family, the NCP leader refused to get drawn into the controversy. “This (the brave officer’s sacrifice) is more serious than that,” Mr Pawar said.

On the other hand, Congress leader Mr Vikhe-Patil said that while there were no two opinions about the atmosphere of intolerance in the country, the actor’s statement about his wife wanting to leave the country was over-the-board.

Aamir had said on Sunday, in an interaction at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism awards ceremony, that he has been “alarmed” by a number of incidences and his wife Kiran Rao even suggested that they should probably leave India.

“There is no doubt that the situation in the country in past few months has embittered many people. Things have worsened because of the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue. The PM must break his silence and try to understand why so many people are feeling that there is growing intolerance in the country,” Mr Vikhe Patil said.

Further commenting on the actor’s statement, the Congress leader said, “Aamir’s statement was right till he said that there is growing intolerance. Certain elements are trying to create troubles in the society. But majority of people in the country are tolerant and secular. Hence, Aamir’s statement about leaving the country was an exaggeration of the situation. Instead, all of us should unite and fight against the existing situation,” he said.

Shiv Sena minister Ramdas Kadam said the actor was welcome to go to Pakistan if he felt so insecure in India. “We loved Aamir Khan. We looked at him as an artiste and did not see your religion. Does that mean that were feeding milk to a snake ” he said.