While Shah Rukh Khan is celebrating his 50th birthday today, he is all over the news for his statement on growing intolerance in India. Many media channels reported that he has joined the bandwagon of artists, scholars who have been raising concerns about the recent communal incidents in India and returning their awards. The Twiterrati is in an outrage mode against the Bollywood Badshah and has started questioning him about the statement.
But, when we saw the video, where the statement was allegedly made, it looks to us like the media has played a game here. In the Twitter Townhall hosted by Aajtak Madison Garden famed Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, it was Mr. Sardesai who asked SRK about his opinion about the growing intolerance. To that, Khan replied maturely, that intolerance is not only in our country but it is there all over the world, social media. It is because the youth are impatient and they over react. He said that the medium of voice has increased unlike before so there might be a slight rise in the intolerance. And then he slammed the media for creating words like Hindu votebank and Muslim votebank and said it is a bullshit.
Rajdeep Sardesai also tried to bring in SRK’s personal life to add spice to the issue by asking about his Hindu wife and his Pakistani Father to which he replied that these things should not be considered special. He said he celebrates Diwali as well as Eid in the same manner and the respect is mutual.
Read: Shah Rukh Khan’s toughest slap to Hafiz Muhammad Saeed for inviting him to Pakistan
Media has this insane obsession of putting words in the horse’s mouth. The unsuspecting interviewee falls into the trap laid by them as we have seen in many cases including the latest Zubin Mehta interview by Barkha Dutt. Media highlights the part suitable to their narrative and as a reaction the sympathizers of the government will debunk, denounce and rebut the celebrity, which is exactly how the media wants us to play to prove their point.
It is time people should realize this agenda and stop playing in the hands of media. On that note, We wish Shah Rukh Khan, a very happy birthday.
