India has possibly had enough of thisintolerance debate that has suddenly become the most-talked about issue inBollywood today. From raging againstShah Rukh Khan to banning his filmDilwale at some centres, protestors have pulled every cord they could to revolt against the superstar. But the entire showdown only proves one thing. About the organisations, a section of the media and a fraction of the Indian audience. We tend to not understand or pay attention to what a person is saying. What we do is we rather jump to conclusions.
Same happened in this case too. While a lot of hullabaloo was made out over one comment, in reality, the intent with which SRK made that statement was completely different. Recently in an interview with a leading national channel, when SRK was quizzed about the same, he immediately shot back asking the reporter to be specific. "Nowadays I want to specifically ask everyone to tell me what areas of intolerance do they want me to talk about? I want the exact context." While the reporter explains the point, SRK retorts, "The question I was asked was completely different to what it's being made out to be. Sab mere upar chadh baithe. They asked me what would be my message to the future generation. So I said for modern India- half of whose population consists of the people in the range of 25 years, the only message I wanted to give was they should not differentiate between people on the basis of region, religion, creed, colour or gender. Does this mean that this is already happening? No, I never said that or mean that."
Again, while promoting Dilwale in Kolkata, when the same question popped up, Shah Rukh tried to reason it out. "I can't deny the fact that I have been reading messages on WhatsApp, on social media and even on ground, there have been activities all around the country where perhaps, the film has been stopped or not allowed to be the way it should have been released. In the last 25 years I have received love from all corners of the country, inspite of region, religion, caste, creed, gender. The only way I want to return the love is by doing some great work. Sometimes, I succeed and sometimes, I fail, maybe on the creative part of it. So it saddens me when any of my work can't reach out to all the people. Especially when I am working with friends like Kajol. I understand that perhaps it stems from what I say or what I speak, but to be honest, a lot of things that I say are misconstrued. Perhaps misrepresented and misinterpreted at times. I am not someone who will say that after receiving so much love from this country's people, I have an issue with it. In terms of tolerance or intolerance. I don't. Like the other day, I was watching when somebody put a tweet which doesn't belong to me and I can't clarify it. I see a news which says I'm related to an X-person who is completely anti-us and anti-my country. And this is not true. I don't have a logistic way to explain this at this day and age. I am a representative of my own country. I am thankful to everybody but I can't keep explaining that."
But there's something that bothers Khan for sure. "But when it comes to a work which involves so many people, I feel saddened that it got represented in such a manner. And if anybody is hurt by the same, I regret it. One has to allow the openness of a person who's working towards thanking the people for the love that they have given me as an Indian. I worked very hard to make people smile," he tells reporters. But the good news is in fact that the protests are slowly dying down. "I have now heard its quelling down. So I wish that all the people who wish to see the film on their own, please go and watch it. do not get misled or misappropriated by people who perhaps have misconstrued what I said. I am not in a stage and age where I need to clarify my stands for businesses, I don't need to vouch for who I am, what I stand for. I am sad that my work gets tainted like this."
But is there a pressure on him to apologise? Pat comes the reply. "I have not said anything for which I should apologise because then, I would fall in my own eyes. The last person in this world who will ever feel affected is me. A lot of places got affected because of the protests. But to me, the numbers don't matter. The fact that we can't release a film is what saddens me. It is hurtful for me to understand why something that we make to give happiness will suddenly become something that gets tainted or becomes controversial. That part is sadder than how many theatres it wasn't allowed to be showed in."
After watching the entire video, it's really easy to gauge the intention with which SRK had actually made the statement. And there's one huge point that the protests have brought about? Are we really tolerant? If yes, why are we deliberately targeting a movie star who's trying to give out a message of humanity and brotherhood to the youth and staging protests, calling a ban on his film? Is it because he is Shah Rukh Khan? Such questions need to be answered.
But one thing which is evident from the way the film has been banned at some major key centres and the way a fraction of Indians have held SRK responsible for his comments on 'intolerance'. That Indians need to pay much more attention and understand the intention or the context behind a comment that any public figure makes before jumping the gun. Making an opinion about anything might be easy, but what's difficult is to realise the main reason behind such a move.
Because after all, public shaming of Shah Rukh Khan in the name of patriotism only goes on to reveal the pseudo-patriotism that actually exists in the hearts of many Indians across the country. Is this what patriotism is all about? And I'm sure that writing this piece would mean the same section of the audience questioning my patriotism. But I'm sorry to inform you guys that if this is what you call patriotism, I'm certainly not a part of this crowd. Because my definition of patriotism is completely different.
To all those who are protesting the movie, I ask, who made you the sole flag-holders of patriotism in the country? Who gave you the power to decide what’s patriotic or what’s not? Why can’t a democracy allow members of the public to speak their minds openly? Dissent is the reason that we exist today, free of British rule, how can people now suddenly speak up so strongly because someone doesn’t agree with them?
For those who participate in whereaboutery (asking where SRK was during 26/11 or other such events), we suggest you search Google, you will see what SRK had to say about those events. Patriotism doesn’t mean blind faith in our nation, and criticising certain aspects of the nation doesn’t make you unpatriotic.
Source:http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-hey-patriots-before-raging-against-shah-rukh-khan-s-intolerance-comments-understand-what-he-meant-first-2159277
