The Hindutva and RSS trolls continue to hound Bollywood star, Aamir Khan- now for his massive popularity in China. In a new line of attack — far-right Hindutva nationalist groups — Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh trolls have based their new vicious campaign against Aamir Khan on his popularity and fame in China that came to actor following the releases of his super-hit movies 3 Idiots and Dangal in China.
RSS attacks Aamir Khan for fame in China
In the latest edition of RSS magazine — the parent organization of BJP, it has put up the actor’s image on the covers of its magazine with a title- “The Dragon’s favourite Khan”, referring to China the Dragon, here.
The article accuses Aamir Khan of “forging friendships with those that are considered enemies of India”.
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan is once again the target of a hate campaign by India’s far-right Hindu nationalist group, the RSS. This time it’s about China and Turkey pic.twitter.com/LVzgoGcFzn
— TRT World (@trtworld) August 29, 2020
“On one hand, there are some stars and filmmakers including Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, John Abraham and Kangana Ranaut for whom making or acting in a film full of nationalism and patriotism is like showing their loyalty to the country. On the other hand is an actor like Aamir Khan, who does not see any harm in forging friendships with those that are considered enemies of India,” read an excerpt from the article in the magazine.
Read more: Bollywood’s Aamir Khan branded traitor for meeting Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan
“Aamir seems to be the favourite of the Chinese Communist Party system and the fact his movies are doing so well is an indication that he is being promoted by the Chinese state,” said the editor of the RSS magazine.
In its inciting remarks against Aamir Khan, the magazine blamed Aamir Khan of selling himself to enemies of India: Turkey and China, for money. The magazine argued that should not the people of India feel cheated by the actor when he “shamelessly” accepts the invitation from enemy nations.
The magazine says Aamir Khan “shows he cares two hoots about the sentiments of his countrymen”.
“If Khan thinks that he is truly secular then why is he shooting in Turkey because Istanbul supports Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir. The people of India haven’t forgotten Aamir Khan’s interview in which he said his wife Kiran Rao is scared of living in India because intolerance in the country has risen,” it says.
Aamir Khan minted a huge fan base in China following the release of his movie, Dangal-based on the theme of wrestling. The movie racked up smashing records in China. Dangal became one of the highest-earning Indian movies in China as it made US$183.3 million in revenue the Chinese box-office. On Weibo — the Chinese Twitter — he had amassed more than a million followers. Moreover, Aamir Khan is also the brand ambassador for Vivo.
India-China clash
As of now, India is in a fierce clash with China over the disputed territory of Ladakh. The dispute between India and China worsened after a violent face-off in the disputed territory. The Chinese and Indian troops had a deadly confrontation at the Ladakh border. The Indian army said 20 of its soldiers were killed in a “violent face-off” along the Himalayan frontier which resulted in “casualties on both sides”. The incident saw social media users on both sides baying for blood, as tensions between the two nuclear-armed states reach fever pitch amid the pandemic.
The confrontation followed weeks of rising tensions and the deployment of thousands of extra troops from both sides.
RSS concluded that Aamir Khan is supported by the Chinese Communist Party and the state which is reflected in the fact that how well his movies do on the Chinese box-office. It based its observation on the contrasting reactions of Chinese audiences to the movies of the two leading Khans of Bollywood- Dangal of Aamir Khan and Sultan of Salman Khan- both based on the subject of wrestling. While Dangal did exceptionally well in China, Sultan failed to woo the Chinese audiences. Hence, RSS deduced that Aamir Khan is being supported by the Chinese government.
Aamir Khan meets Emine Erdogan
A few days ago, Aamir Khan met the Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan during the shoots of his upcoming film in Turkey. Since then he is being targeted by the vicious campaigns by hyper-nationalistic and militaristic trolls of BJP and RSS.
Read more: Aamir Khan: Hindutva trolls call Junaid Jamshed, Tariq Jameel LeT activists in viral image
Soon the images of Aamir Khan meeting Emine Erdogan went viral on social media that brought the actor and First Lady under severe criticism on Indian Twitter. Moreover, Emine Erdogan also shared the images on her Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/ashoswai/status/1299261122747551744?s=20
The viral pictures of Aamir Khan meeting Turkish First Lady stirred a whirlwind of criticism against the actor in India. The furious fan and follower of Aamir Khan grievously slammed him for meeting Emine Erdogan because Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a staunch critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for stoking religious extremism and Islamophobia in India and for forcefully annexing Jammu Kashmir.
Turkey has repeatedly expressed solidarity with the people of Pakistan. It has been vociferously protesting against the forced occupation of Jammu Kashmir by India. Moreover, Turkey is also a strong ally of Pakistan. Hence, Turkey’s unbridled stance on the Kashmir issue seems to have soured its relations with India.