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Dropping Aamir Khan makes Modi sarkar a sore loser

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Kanika Gahlaut
Kanika GahlautJan 09, 2016 | 22:05

Dropping Aamir Khan makes Modi sarkar a sore loser

On the face of it, the termination of Aamir Khan's contract as brand ambassador of the Incredible India campaign is nothing remarkable where such rejigging is known to happen with political change of hands. It is the prerogative of the department of tourism of government of India to review a contract with an agency, in this case McCann Erickson, that has expired, and - some would say conveniently - drop the actor along with the agency. 

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Several commentators as well as sympathetic supporters of ruling BJP have pointed this out. Aamir Khan himself has said India will be incredible without him as grand ambassador or not, and with the class he has displayed over the past few months, added that he "respects the decision of the government" to not renew his engagement.

But the issue is slightly bigger than that, and in danger of snowballing. Post the news, for instance, one BJP MP has reportedly called Aamir a “traitor”, several supporters called on TV debates have linked the cancelling of his contract to his views on intolerance, taunting him for being more an ambassador for "Intolerant India" than "Incredible India", parroting a line first used by Sambit Patra, who mocked him in heat of debate that "it's incredible India not intolerant India". 

Let's see why Aamir Khan's discontinuation as ambassador of Incredible India is not like any other replacement in a new regime. 

In November 2015, Aamir Khan joined superstar SRK in speaking about "rising intolerance" - a phrase brought into the public domain by public intellectuals and writers, many of whom began returning their awards as a mark of protest. This was after the Dadri "beef murder", following which BJP members made provocative remarks, as well as after the murder of three rationalists.

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The government refused to engage with the protestors, with Arun Jaitley terming the protests "manufactured". Secularism has been a sticky wicket with the BJP government, which prescribes to Hindutva ideology. 

While SRK's remarks barely a few weeks before had mobilised both support and critique in a sustained discourse that divided public opinion, it was - for some reason perhaps to do with timing and circumstance and rising heat on the issue - Aamir Khan who took a bigger hit when he said he said at an event in late November “there was growing intolerance, and on reading the papers, his wife asked if they should leave India”, (to his shock, he said).

There was a sedition case, effigy burning and threat of boycott of brands he endorsed, even as members of Sangh welcomed him to "leave the country" and "go to Pakistan" if he so wished. Despite this, Aamir, unlike SRK who quickly toned down and did a sort of U-turn on his intolerance remark amid the Aamir furore, was to give a statement standing by his comments. 

Aamir was perhaps the last push in the sustained campaign by members of intelligentsia to bring attention to "rising intolerance", an issue that was to go to Parliament for debate barely two weeks later in early December. It forced the government, which till then had tried to ignore or discredit the issue, to clarify its stand. 

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The intolerance debate, held in Parliament when India observed its first Constitution Day, was to conclude with a passionate endorsement of the "idea of India" by PM, who said: "no one's patriotism can be questioned". Rajnath Singh appealed academics and writers and other protestors returning awards to take the awards back, saying their opinions were valued and the government was willing to engage with them. 

The discontinuation of Aamir as ambassador of Incredible India campaign again revives the issue, and with it potentially the insecurities of minorities. The Incredible India campaign was launched in 2002 by the tourism ministry, and Aamir Khan was roped in in 2008 when it began a campaign for local sensitisation towards tourists. The contract with Aamir now stands expired, with Amitabh Bachchan touted as a replacement. 

Aamir Khan is a "method actor" known for his integrity and backing of social causes and themes even in his films, and it would be statesmanlike to acknowledge his comments during the intolerance debate as an extension of his social role as brand ambassador of Incredible India, aimed towards educating and strengthening the social fabric.

With Aamir Khan's contract up for renewal, government got an opportunity to walk the talk on secularism - and shot itself in the foot. Besides adding fuel to the allegation that the BJP government is intolerant towards dissent and vindictive towards opponents and critics, it also gives strength to the suspicions that the PM and this government speak in two voices. On the one hand it has to gain global legitimacy and on the other, appease its rightwing vote bank.

The awful signal here is you may not "go to Pakistan" for voicing your views on social intolerance, but you will suffer or be punished. 

It also threatens to reignite the for-now-seemingly-settled but ugly debate on "secularism" that has been burning since this government came to power, where government as well as rightwing elements have targeted Muslims for their food, flag, patriotism and nationalism.

Whether or not the termination was a coincidence is irrelevant - nobody is going to fix the onus of the termination on blah blah agency - especially when BJP MPs are using the termination to again target Aamir Khan and supporters and Hindu Rashtra chauvinists are seeing in his exit from the campaign their victory. 

Last updated: January 11, 2016 | 22:03
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