Raise your hand if you never seriously considered leaving the country till you saw the reactions to Aamir Khan’s comments this week. The guy didn’t even say he was going anywhere; he just mentioned in passing a comment his wife made to illustrate a larger point about the helplessness we all feel when we read about something like attacks on minorities, political dissenters or whistle-blowers in the news. You’re probably familiar with what followed: a storm of bigotry, twisted logic and violence expressed through tweets, effigy-burning and political shit-stirring. The Shiv Sena recently announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh each to anyone who will slap Khan—that’s one lakh per slap.
It can all leave you feeling a bit out of love with your fellow citizens. Nastiness sells, so it’s everywhere you look. But there have been smart, funny, wise reactions to this issue too. They’re just not as loud as the bigots so you might have missed them. So here’s our list of five cool things that happened as a direct result of the Aamir Khan backlash.
2015 came full circle: Remember when AIB ran into trouble with the upright citizens’ brigade this January when the video of their roast went up? And Aamir Khan cluck-clucked? “I completely believe in freedom of speech no issues, but we have to understand we all have certain responsibilities.” As lawyer Karuna Nundy pointed out, those chaps are not holding a grudge.
Journalists delivered comedy: Anchor and journalist at NDTV India, Ravish Kumar’s introduction to his news show is pitch-perfect satire.
Even traffic updates delivered comedy: If you’re not following the funniest traffic update Twitter account in India, go do that right now.
Intolerance is rising near Indian Oil Petrol pump at 19th Main.
— Silk Board (@silk_board) November 24, 2015
Aamir Khan is not backing down: (From his statement to the press)
And it reminded us why we love Jackie Shroff:
I feel one should be able to express bindaas: Jackie Shroff #AamirRightOrWrong https://t.co/ebjDAFsYWE
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 25, 2015
