Bollywood’s superstar Aamir Khan seems to be in trouble waters nowadays. Khan is heavily trolled and condemned by some extremist Hindu nationalists for meeting Turkish first lady and his fame in China. On August 15, Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan posted a picture of her meeting the star on Twitter. It soon went viral and started a huge debate questioning his patriotism.
Aamir Khan with Turkey’s First Lady
The First Lady of Turkey, Emine Erdogan tweeted:
“I had the great pleasure of meeting @aamir_khan, the world-renowned Indian actor, filmmaker, and director, in Istanbul…” she tweeted after meeting the Muslim star, who was in Turkey for the shooting of his upcoming film, Laal Singh Chaddha.
I had the great pleasure of meeting @aamir_khan, the world-renowned Indian actor, filmmaker, and director, in Istanbul. I was happy to learn that Aamir decided to wrap up the shooting of his latest movie ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ in different parts of Turkey. I look forward to it! pic.twitter.com/3rSCMmAOMW
— Emine Erdoğan (@EmineErdogan) August 15, 2020
Pro-government patrons were angry at Khan for taking a picture with the wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has criticized the Indian government’s decision to remove Indian-administered Kashmir of its special status last August.
Khan, one of the most prominent Bollywood actors, was soon the top Twitter trend along with Erdogan, with Hindu extremists declaring the film star “anti-national” and “unpatriotic” for standing with the “enemy”.
The RSS magazine, Organiser, put Khan on its cover declaring him “The Dragon’s favorite Khan”, a reference to China as he is also a brand ambassador for Chinese smartphone maker Vivo.
Khan was the victim of a wicked online campaign in 2015 and was forced out of many commercial campaigns after he said his wife worried about the safety of their kids in India. At that time, India was rolling under an environment of instability following the lynching of a Muslim man for allegedly eating beef, which many Hindus consider to be blasphemous.
In the past, Hindu right-wing organizations have called for a boycott of movies starring Khans, especially Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. In recent years, the three stars have mostly remained quiet on matters facing the minority community.
The ruling government of India has rejected its policies are against the minority Muslims but has done nothing to stop its supporters from indulging in online hate speech against Muslims.
