INDIANS are biased and full of prejudice, always ready to accuse Muslims living in India of being ‘anti-state’. This was witnessed when Bollywood actor Aamir Khan met the first lady of Turkey, Emine Erdogan. For this, he was dubbed ‘anti-state’.

On the other hand, when racist Narendra Modi meets Turkish president, it is considered prudent foreign policy. This logic is beyond comprehension of a normal human brain.

Aamir Khan met the Turkish first lady to discuss social responsibility and water projects, creating an unnecessary controversy in India. Earlier, the actor had refused to join Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he was in Mumbai owing to some personal reasons.

However, Hindu extremists have been rallying against the Muslim Indian actor calling for a boycott of Aamir Khan, apart from Chinese products. The boycott does not include movies alone, but all brands endorsed by the Muslim actor.

This campaign against the movie star shows nothing but a religious bias. He was shooting his film in Turkey and every actor visits the head of state where they shoot to seek approval. Since Bollywood’s Muslim actors are quite famous across the world, especially the Khans, it was obvious that the Turkish first lady would invite them the way Priyanka Chopra was once invited to meet Barack Obama and Modi.

Nobody can afford to reject such invitations. The Indians should stop spreading hate on the basis of religion, caste and creed. They should accept and hail their heroes instead of launching hate campaigns against every Muslim in India only because of his religious belief.

Zahoor Abbas Samo
Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2020