New Delhi: Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday drew criticism from Opposition parties which hit out at him in Parliament for suggesting that actor Aamir Khan should be “taught a lesson” over his comments on religious intolerance in India.
Facing flak, Parrikar stated on Monday that he never used the word “lesson” and that what he meant was, “you have to build pressure, you have to build public opinion that people who love their country should not be silent on these issues. I am just saying that we should verbally condemn people who speak against nation. I didn’t specifically point out at anyone.”
Parrikar suggested that the agitating Members of Parliament (MPs) watch the video of his speech rather than rely on media reports.
Veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad asked Parrikar, “May I ask what type of lesson you are going to teach us? The entire nation must know.”
During a book launch on Saturday, Parrikar had taken a jibe at Aamir Khan as he raked up the actor’s last year’s remark about leaving the country.
“One actor had said that his wife wants to live out of India. It was an arrogant statement. If I am poor and my house is small, I will still love my house and always dream to make a bungalow out of it,” Parrikar said, without naming Khan.
In an oblique reference to Khan and the alleged anti-national sloganeering at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) earlier this year, Parrikar said those who speak against the nation need to be taught a lesson by people of this country.
“How come people get guts or courage to speak against the country? Such people who speak against the country need to be taught a lesson by the people of this country,” he added.
Parrikar alleged that the controversy around the actor’s comments saw people withdraw from e-commerce portal Snapdeal that Khan endorsed and said the controversy cost Khan the contract.
On Monday, Congress asked if Parrikar is tasked with protecting India or threatening fellow citizens. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi attacked Parrikar and Hindu fundamentalist outfit Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), stating that “hate is the preserve of the coward and it never wins”.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said it was a “shocking revelation” by Parrikar and showed that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS supporters sabotaged the commercial activities of Snapdeal over Khan’s statements on religious intolerance last year.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati demanded an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on “why he is not reining in his ministers on what they say”.
However, Parrikar found support in BJP MP Subramanian Swamy for his criticism of Khan.
“Why so much hoo-ha about Parrikar’s statement on Aamir Khan? If Aamir Khan is ignorant that to love janmabhoomi [birth place] is unconditional then he needs a teacher,” Swamy tweeted.
“Parrikar’s statement should be seen in the context of nationalism. The whole intolerance campaign was a sponsored one,” BJP spokesperson Sonkar Shastri reacted.
In November last year, Khan had joined the chorus against the growing atmosphere of “intolerance” in India, stating that he was alarmed by the number of incidents, with his wife, Kiran Rao, even suggesting that they leave the country.
“When I sit at home and talk to Kiran, she says ‘should we move out of India?’ That is a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day. That does indicate that there is this sense of growing disquiet, there is growing despondency apart from alarm. You feel why this is happening, you feel low. That sense does exist in me,” Khan had said.
