Proof of patriotism not prerequisite to making statements: Shah Rukh on intolerance and Aamir Khan

Shah Rukh Khan weighed in on the debate surrounding rising incidents of intolerance in India and fellow actor Aamir Khan’s recent statement on the issue. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Shah Rukh said, “You don’t have to prove your patriotism in any other way, except for thinking good for the country and doing good. You have to work for the benefit of the country. If I work for the country in the most kindest way in what I am good at, my country is going to benefit from that. But if I am corrupt, and regional about it, I will be harming my country.”

This was Shah Rukh’s first reaction to Aamir’s statement where he had said that he was “alarmed” by a number of incidents and his wife Kiran Rao even suggested that they should probably leave the country.

At a time when social media reach is baffling and almost unaccountable for, users chip in with quick and easy judgment. Shah Rukh echoed the concern and said that nothing less can be expected from such a medium. “Twitter and social media is about free voice, people do take very radical steps, they get abusive. Even a generic statement can be turned into radical statements by people,” he said.

Shah Rukh added that social media should not be taken very seriously and a few things need to be ignored.

“I have never been disappointed. It is not a medium to have a deep conversation,” said Shah Rukh with a smile, “Since people take a very radical stand sometimes and start jumping the gun and at the end when you dont know what to say, you resort to teri **ki, etc.”

Adding that just because an actor has been in the industry for 25 years, he does not have to speak on all issues, the actor said, “You realise even a generic, logical thing can be turned around into a radical statement. I think I should only speak on matters to do with my work.”

Speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Awards event last week, Aamir had said, “When I chat with Kiran at home, she says ‘Should we move out of India?’ That’s 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.”

However, after two days, the actor clarified that neither he nor his wife Kiran, have any intention of leaving the country as he is proud to be an Indian, and stand by everything that he said in the interview.

With inputs from agencies