So, “intolerance” is the new political hot potato among the filmi set.  It started with a bunch of intellectual artists giving back their government awards, the “awards wapsi” movement, in protest of the recent spat of religious violence and Modi’s not very emphatic reactions against it.  Some artists who had been involved in the film industry were included in this movement.  And on the other hand, Anupum Kehr (so lovable onscreen!  So hard to love off it!), decided to lead an anti-award wapsi movement, arguing that it was an insult to the Indian people to have these awards so cavalierly returned.

The big names were all successfully avoiding dealing with the micro-issue of Awards Wapsi, and the macro-issue of the Modi/BJP election and the changes it wrought, until Shahrukh decided to actually respond in his birthday interview.  In response to a question, he said “there is intolerance, there is extreme intolerance… there is, I think… there is growing intolerance” and “It is stupid… It is stupid to be intolerant and this is our biggest issue, not just an issue… Religious intolerance and not being secular in this country is the worst kind of crime that you can do as a patriot.”

This got the usual responses, a bunch of hot-tempered politicians suggesting he “go back to Pakistan”, some other politicians apologizing-but-not-really-apologizing for their colleagues’ behavior.  And the BJP lost the election in Bihar.  A lot more went into the BJP losing there, but there is no way that SRK didn’t know that people were going to the polls in Bihar as he was talking, and that what he said could move a few thousand votes off the BJP ticket.

SRK having opened the floodgates, the next step of course was for the other two Khans to weigh in, as the most popular and powerful Muslims in India.  Salman, hilariously, was cut off before he could give a full statement when Sonam Kapoor at their joint press conference literally leaned over and ripped the microphone out of his hands.  He did manage to say something nice about how his family is so interreligious (Hindu born but Muslim convert mother, Christian stepmother, Muslim father, and Hindu sisters- and brother-in-law), but I doubt he will say anything more controversial than that until after his many many court cases are settled.

Aamir held off for a week or so, but when he did finally speak, he went hard.  He opened by saying, “Kiran and I have lived all our lives in India. For the first time, she said, should we move out of India? That’s a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make to me. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers everyday.”

He then went on to discuss bigger issues in his typically passionate-yet-somehow-boring manner, but that opening! Man!  That is something!  Especially putting it in the mouth of his Hindu wife, pointing out that these issues affect not just the members of the Muslim community, but the many non-Muslims who care for them.

Anyway, many many people responded by saying this is not an intolerant country and if he thinks that, he should leave, because we can’t tolerate him (basically).  And a few days ago, the first court case was officially filed.

“Advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha lodged the FIR against Aamir and his wife at Town police station in Muzaffarpur district under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 153B (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration) and 154 (Sedition) of IPC.”

I just, do these people not see what they are doing?  In anger at being called intolerant, they are burning pictures, blackening posters, making death threats, and now, filing court cases.  Now, does this sound more like tolerance, or like intolerance?