C OVER STORY
Open letter to Aamir Khan:
Your work is what defines you,
let it speak for itself
D
ear Aamir Khan,
Now that you have had your say on intolerance,
can you please get back to work? Of course, we
knew you are not leaving the country, neither is Kiran;
you didn't even have to say it. If you are wounded by all
the nastiness thrown at you, remember work is a wonderful healer.
You are an icon, and in India, icons transcend narrow
identities. They are not
judged as Hindu, Muslim,
this or that. No one, I know
of, thinks of Amitabh Bachchan or Sachin Tendulkar
as Hindus or Shah Rukh,
Salman and you as Muslims. That is the beauty of
India. Small people cannot
change that, try howsoever
hard they may.
You are right when you
say that over the last few
months there’s a sense of
disquiet in the country. If
that was not the case, the
topic of intolerance would
not be occupying the national mindspace in the first
place. The fear could be all
imagination and no substance, still, take the politics
out of it and it’s a good issue
to be raised. I don’t think
you were being political when you said what you said.
No rational mind would support thugs of different shades
threatening people, asking them what to eat, and how to
live. If people are bent on linking this lot to an ideology
and a political party, it cannot be your fault.
I know you are being asked a lot of questions challenging your integrity these days. Intolerance is in India’s
DNA; why are you making a big deal out of it? They ask.
Why were you silent when this or that was happening?
Which country does not have intolerance? It goes on.
It’s like saying rapes have been happening in India for
ages, there’s no need for someone to take umbrage if
it happens now. There can be no answer to such silly
questions. Don’t