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Aamir Khan : Trying to make a difference
29th May 2006 22.00 IST
By N. K. Deoshi

Perhaps never before has a Bollywood superstar come out to espouse a social cause with such fervour and unbending resolve.

Aamir Khan , the actor we have admired and loved for long, has taken on a new role. To call him a social crusader would be an overstatement, given the fact that Aamir himself has said that he is just a citizen of this democratic country voicing his concern about an issue he feels strongly about.

Aamir’s comments on the rehabilitation of the people displaced by the Sardar Sarovar dam project have been met with support and opposition from different quarters. The main opposition has come from Gujarat where activists of certain political parties burnt Aamir’s posters and stopped the screening of his movie Rang De Basanti a few weeks back. And now the Gujarat Multiplex association has decided not to screen Aamir’s latest movie Fanaa , which released all over India on Friday. This ban on the release of ‘Fanaa’ came about particularly after the BJP in Gujarat demanded an apology from Aamir, but the actor declined to do so and remained firm on his stand.

Aamir, on the other hand, has said on news channels that he has done or said nothing to feel apologetic about. He also reiterated that he is neither against the people of Gujarat nor against development in that state.

“I'm not against the dam. What I'm saying is that the people who have been affected by the dam should be rehabilitated. I have nothing against the state of Gujarat. I have only love in my heart for the people of Gujarat and I would like to ask them (that) when I speak in favour of the people of Gujarat who were affected by the Narmada project and about their rehabilitation, was that wrong?" Aamir said on CNN-IBN news channel.

Meanwhile, support for Aamir has begun to trickle in from Bollywood. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan in a very carefully worded statement has said that any citizen has the right to freedom of expression given by the Indian constitution. Bachchan also said that he was with Aamir.

Actor Anil Kapoor and filmmaker Govind Nihalani , too, have condemned the banning of ‘Fanaa’ in Gujarat.

“Banning the release of the film just because he (Aamir) espoused a cause is totally condemnable," Anil told a news agency in New Delhi.

But the strongest criticism of the ban has come from danseuse Mallika Sarabhai who has called the ban as “murder of democracy.”

Not only film personalities, even the majority of Indian citizens seem to be supporting Aamir. On Saturday, when Aamir appeared on Star News Channel and received phone calls from people throughout India, from West Bengal to Gujarat, Mumbai and New Delhi, almost 90 percent of the people voiced strong support for Aamir and some even equated the forced ban on the release of ‘Fanaa’ in Gujarat as ‘hooliganism’.

Without getting into any political debate, let it be said that people of Gujarat have their right to oppose and protest Aamir’s statement within constitutional framework. But when certain elements get down to acts like vandalism and forcefully stopping the screening of films, that is where the democracy of this great nation is undermined.

As for Aamir, let us just spare one thought for him. What is he gaining out of it? No monetary reward. He has already ruled out any political ambitions and even supporting any political party in the future. So why would a man come out of his comfortable, newly-married life to earn flak and criticism of many? The answer, given by him only, is simple. He wants “to give voice to those who are unheard”. And he wants to keep a clear conscience that he did not keep quiet when he knew he could help someone in need and make a difference for good.

The fact remains that if Aamir’s new avatar has got him criticism, it has also earned him tremendous respect in the eyes of many.

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Aamir Khan
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