You may or may not be a fan of Shahrukh Khan, much less an admirer of Karan Johar’s cinema, but nothing in the world would make me believe that you aren’t a believer in freedom of thought and its expression. And if someone is castigated and vilified for speaking his mind freely in this nation we pride over as the world’s largest democracy, it’s time for the aam aadmi, you and me and a hundreds and thousands alike, to step in and show the powers-that-be what democracy truly means - “people’s rule”.
Yes, people’s rule and not the rule of autocrats or bigots.
Whether Shahrukh Khan’s comment on the inclusion of Pakistani cricketers in the upcoming season of IPL was right or wrong isn’t really the issue. Those who disagree with Khan’s comment have every right to protest. But protest in what way? By leaving no stone unhurled in thwarting the release of his movie My Name Is Khan? By smashing the box office windows and tearing down the posters of the film? By calling Shahrukh, whose dad was a freedom fighter, a “traitor”?
And even as the state machinery has swung into full gear, police force deployed (many a leave application shoved in the drawer) and director Karan Johar and theatre owners promised adequate security for the film, an eerie lull still prevails over the ticket counters at theatres in Mumbai.
In this situation pregnant with tension, what can the ordinary folks like you and me do? A lot, I say, by stepping out and watching the movie, which isn’t just a film anymore, not so much for entertainment or for love of SRK, but as a sign of protest against those trying to smother our basic democratic right. To start with, I’ve already got my ticket booked, even though an SRK fan I’m not.
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