http://in.rediff.com/movies/2006/may/25aamir1.htm

You can go through this for Aamir’s interview to rediff.

Now, my points:
1. http://www.outlookindia.com/fullprint.asp?choice=2&fodname=20060503&fname=madhu&sid=1

http://indianexpress.com/story/2887._.html

Please go through these to know another side of the NBA. You’ll need an Outlook ID and password for the first. You can register there. I don’t know if it is legal to reproduce the article here. It is very long, anyway.

2. Aamir says he is reiterating the Supreme Court’s verdict.
Please see this:
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/09look1.htm

You’ll know who follows the Supreme Court and who doesn’t.

Well, the courts have also ruled against reservations for muslims. I would like to know Aamir’s views on that.

3. Rehabilitation of farmers is a concern we all share. And that is one thing all four states have failed in - Maharashtra, Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan. Except Gujarat, the others have been ruled by congress in the recent past. Yet, Aamir chooses to attack only Gujarat and the BJP.

4. He never talked of rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits (all are human beings but the Kashmir problem is much more serious as it has much more serious repurcussions on the nation than the case of the Narmada farmers. Even the numbers - 300000 displaced - affects equations in the neighbouring states and the overpopulated city of Delhi. Further, Kashmiri Pandits have been KILLED and RAPED. Narmada farmers haven’t. Aamir’s energy will be more useful in Kashmir. Yet, he is not concerned.

On being asked specifically this, he says he is with the Pandits. Well, he should go to Srinagar and tell the Hurriyat this, go to pakistan (there is a bus service available courtesy the same BJP he attacks) and tell Musharraf this.

6. Both the congress and the BJP protested against Aamir’s comments. The congress actually outdid the BJP this time, seeing a narrow chance of winning appeal in their lost bastion, Gujarat. The violence undertaken by congress activists may be a reason why multiplex owners might have decided to stop release of Fanaa. Yet, Aamir bashes the BJP rather selectively.

7. Aamir plainly hints that the BJP has stopped the release of Fanaa. If that were so, why would that stoppage be limited to the multiplexes? Why are all the other (single) theatres releasing the film in Gujarat? There is also a hint here - why does the media become a ’source’ of information when it comes to NArendra Modi and the BJP?

8. Aamir is sad about innocent people getting killed int he Gujarat riots. He probably thinks that the children, women and men aboard the S6 coach of Sabarmati express that was arsoned in Godhra were guilty of something. He also doesn’t have words against rioters in Mau, Marad, Akshardham, Varanasi, Delhi, Mumbai blasts. He is not targetting Mulayam Singh Yadav. He is not against the congress for its role in 1984 riots. He selectively indulges in Modi bashing. Is it his ignnorance?

9. Aamir is against George Bush for killing people in Iraq. We all know Bush messed up with Iraq but he also did some good by removing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan. He also did something good by breaking age-old barriers with India in going forth with a nuclear deal. It was for the first time that a US president gave the pakistani establishment a cold shoulder.

Aamir is not against Pervez Musharraf who killed (and continues to kill) thousands of innocent Indian civilians and militarymen - some of them like Lt Saurabh Kalia in a sadistic fashion, to say the least. Pakistan’s role in sheltering the talibs and hence, being involved in more and more deaths in Afghanistan. And what about the sheltering of Al-qaeda whose antics resulted in the loss of lives and economy in multiple countries across the world?

10. >>Those who instigate others in the name of religion are wrong. Period.<< This is what Aamir says. For his information, the BJP is the ONLY party that talks of a UNIFORM civil code. Hence, they are the ONLY ones who believe in treating everyone equally. The other so called secular parties do not even have the guts to talk about a uniform civil code.

11. >>I am also against the ways terrorists, of attack by bomb blasts as only innocent people get killed.<< From this sentence, it seems like he is not against terrorism per se but is interested in having their 'ways' changed. Any alternative ideas, Aamir?

12. Aamir says that everyone is with him except the BJP. Well, he should have heard the congress official on TV who supported BJP’s view that Aamir should apologise. Shankar Singh Waghela (ex-BJP, now congress) also had the same to say about Aamir’s ‘opinion’. He should also read the numerous blogs on the Net. He has support, yes, from his fans. But those are the innocent souls who do not see much beyond the silver screen.

13. Aamir says this is a democracy and he has a right to express his opinion. Then does he think that those who oppose him (congress or BJP) do not have a right to voice theirs?

14. On being questioned about Arundhati Roy’s opposition to Coca-Cola, a brand he endorses, Aamir says he is ‘investigating’ the issue and will give a definite answer in ‘one or two’ months.
What a great investigator he is. I wonder what his modus operandi is that takes him one or two months to find out what can be found ont he Net. Check this out:
http://www.environmenttimes.net/article.cfm?pageID=205
or
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20050516&fname=Coke+%28F%29&sid=1
or
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060418/asp/nation/story_6113256.asp
or
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1677457,0035.htm

15. Aamir says that multiplexes charge very high rates. That’s true. But they did so for Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Mangal Pandey and RDB as well. A part of his high paycheque comes from the fact that rich people are ready to pay higher for his movies. Of course, he speaks for poor people. Why doesn’t he take lesser money so that we can pay less for his movies?

You speak for the poor people, Aamir? Then why do you live in a posh Pali Hill bungalow? Why do you earn in crores? The poor don’t drink Coke, drive Toyotas or wear Titans.

Multiplex owners in Gujarat have decided not to release Fanaa on account of Aamir’s antics during the NBA drama.
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I don’t know if boycotting the film of an actor whose views differ from ours is a healthy way of going about it. But then, was Gandhi’s way of boycotting British goods a healthy way? All Britishers weren’t bad.
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The point there was to enable a sense of pride in ourselves that we could also build quality goods and thus show the British that they were not really superior and therefore did not have a moral right to administer our affairs. Similarly, by boycotting Aamir, these protestors are trying to show that he is famous because of the people and therefore he should think before making statements that might hurt the very people.
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Good or bad, if I were a multiplex owner in any part of India or the world, I would also have not bought the distribution of this film. Simultaneously, I would enhance the cinema experience in my theatres so much that people are addicted to it (the theatre) and so that both the viewers and the stars realise that their film’s experience depends on the theatre as much as their acting.
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Now let’s come to the politics part - Congress protested more loudly and violently than BJP against Aamir’s statement. It is probably the fear of these parties that has persuaded the multiplex owners in their decision. Yet, now the congress is blaming the ‘Gujarat government’ for ‘forcing’ multiplex owners not to release Aamir’s film. Typical below-the-belt tactic of the congress party.

Dear President of my country.

We know you are the nominal head of the nation and not the executive head. Sadly, none of these two heads are raising their head in a matter that bows the head of the nation in shame.

Jaati - this word implies nature. When it is said that the ‘jaati’ of a person should dictate his chooice of job, shouldn’t it be taken to mean that a person must choose his job according to his nature, his passion? Where does the birth of a person become significant in this?

I don’t know which forefather of mine discriminated against whom and I don’t think I should be held responsible for that. I also doubt how many of those who want reservations actually know which forefather of theirs faced discrimination.

When were the OBCs discriminated against? By their very definition, ‘other’ backward castes carry the tag ‘other’. It implies they were never really that backward. There is also no question of discrimination against OBCs. For instance, we all need milk. How can we discriminate against the Yadav? We all need foodgrain. How can farmers be discriminated against? The OBCs are essentially those castes that did not fall within the purview of ‘brahman’ or ‘kshatriya’ or ‘Waishya’ (now even waishyas are considered OBCs - how silly) and yet were not dalits / achhoots. They have been in a position that entailed regular interaction with the rest of soceity.

In the present context, the OBCs are the most powerful political entity. Laloo’s grasp was so strong that he could not be uninstated from Bihar even after 15 years of misrule. I am from Bihar and have seen the state stalled since 1990 as everything stopped happening then. Take the case of UP or Karnataka or Haryana or TN - the OBCs are powerful, forward entities. On the contrary, I have not seen many Brahmins with a commanding presence in soceity - be it with money or power.

Discrimination today continues in the name of languages. Maharashtrian, Bengali, Kannada. So, should there not be reservation of seats for south Indians in the north and north Indians in the south? Non Maharashtrians in Maharashtra, non Bengalis in West Bengal, North Eastern students in the rest of India? Since the British also discriminated against us, should we ask the UK to have reservations for Indians? Since the mahmud of Ghazni looted us, should we have reservations in Afghanistan as well? And Iran because of its Shah? Oh what a ‘nadir’ we are trying to reach? This way, we should have reservations in Portugal, France and Mongolia as well. Will these reservations be further broken up according to castes?

Even if we agree on that discrimination still exists in remote villages, will reserving seats in an IIT or a city college or job end that discrimination? How? If a zamindar does not let a dalit drink water from his well, how will the dalit or his child reach IIT or the city college to better their lives? The poor man in a village or city is likely to send his child to work rather than the school so that the child doesn’t die of hunger. Knowledge comes much later in their list of needs. Even if there is a seat reserved for this child of a poor man (whatever his caste) in a village school, how will he benefit from it?

I would like my President to have an opinion on this and convey the same in an address to the Nation.

Sonia Gandhi recently re-took oath as an MP from Rae Bareilly. What struct me was that she said: ‘Main pratigyaan kartee hoon…’ - I promise…
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Isn’t this funny? A lady, supposedly running the nation behind the veil, having lived in the Hindi heartland for a quarter of a century, cannot read the Dewanaagari script. It is obvious now that she still reads Hindi written in the Roman script. That explains why the ‘pratijnaa’ became ‘pratigyaan’.
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For information, ‘jn’ used in words like ‘jnaana’, often incorrectly pronounced ‘gyaan’ (one of my school teachers called it janaanaa and we all used to laugh) is a mixture of ‘j’, the 8th and ‘n’, the tenth consonant in the Hindi language, both pronounced from the palate (taalu).
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It would still have been acceptable if she pronounced it ‘pratigyaa’ as most people in India do, assuming that she had limited scope for linguistic pursuits. But ‘pratigyaan’ - tch, tch.