SRK talks about ‘growing intolerance’, gets support and criticism!

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan isn’t as outspoken as he used to be, but in an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai, the actor spoke about ‘growing intolerance’ in the country.

“With great power comes great vulnerabilities. If I take a stand on an X thing or a Y thing, people will come out and throw stones at my house but if I do take a stand, I’ll stand by it. I feel sad, it’s unfortunate and extremely pathetic but its better to keep quiet and do your job” Khan said, a day before his birthday.

The actor added that there is a little more leeway for actors to express themselves in America, as compared to India.

“How many times should I react? America with all its issues and non-issues has slightly more leeway” he said.

When asked about the ‘growing intolerance’ in the country, which has ‘forced’ the so-called ‘intelligentsia’ in the country to give back their awards, Khan said “Yes there is intolerance, there is growing intolerance. People put words in the air even before thinking. We keep talking about the new India, but if this country is not secular, happy in its approach and allowing people to be… the youngsters are not going to stand for it. It’s stupid to be intolerant. And this is my biggest issue. Not being secular in this country is the worst kind of crime you can do as a patriot”

In a rare attempt at giving his political take, Shah Rukh said there shouldn’t be ‘vote banks’ in the country.

“I am saying this as a citizen of this nation, we will never be a power if you don’t believe that all religions are equal. You often hear about vote banks, there should not be vote bank politics, it’s nonsense” Khan said.

The biggest statement, however, came when he was asked if he would give up his Padma Shri award. To which Khan said “I mean just for a symbolic gesture yes, if I have to.”

The actor, who married a hindu girl, also said inter-religious marriages should be perfectly normal.

“But that should not be an example. This should be the perfectly normal thing to do. Hindus living in perfect harmony with Muslims”

Other key points from SRK’s interview

• We have made a huge thing about our meat-eating habits. How can the food habits of people be an issue?
• In my house, everyone is free to follow their religion. My kids were confused about whether they were Muslim or Hindu, I said ‘why not Christian?’
• If you are a patriot, you must love your country as a whole, not parts of it as religions and regions
• Anupam Kher should be able to give his opinion about another director and be able to have a discussion about it. That’s tolerance
• I think it’s very brave of those returning their awards. I am on their side. If they tell me to join them on a march or a press conference, I would
• Personally, it’s too much of symbolism to return my awards. Just returning something, I am not a believer in that
• I have a weapon on my side. I think I am extremely loved by people. If someone takes a stand against me, I have enough people to love me back. I am not scared, just selfish sometimes. I don’t want a nuisance, I am scared of a nuisance. I work 18 hours a day and I need to be left alone to do my job
• It is very degrading and humiliating to have to prove my patriotism. I am an Indian-born movie star. I am an Indian-born Indian. I am Indian – how does that get questioned? Nobody has more right to live in this country than me, and I am not going to leave. So shut up

The response to SRK’s ‘growing intolerance’ statement has received its fair share of support and criticism.

The biggest support to his statement, quite unexpectedly, came from BJP leader Arun Jaitley, who said “If someone says ‘there shouldn’t be intolerance in the country” what is wrong in that? The nation has never been intolerant and debates won’t spoil the atmosphere”

However, the actor has been heavily criticised on social media websites like Twitter and Facebook for his statement. A lot of people have spoken about his ‘tolerance’ level at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and also about the fact that he was detained and questioned at the US airport back in 2010. Others have said that the superstar is adding fuel to the media and Congress created debate, more so because of his closeness to the Gandhi family.