'Film star Aamir Khan found himself at the centre of a raging controversy on the issue of tolerance on Tuesday with saffron parties attacking him for stoking “fear” and telling him to “go to Pakistan” if he felt insecure in the country... “He was a celebrated actor till now. But now it seems that we handed over milk to a snake. If he does not want to stay here, he can go to Pakistan,” Maharashtra Environment Minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam said.
'A Shiv Sena minister in BJP-led Maharashtra government has said actor Aamir Khan "can go to Pakistan" if he didn't love India and that people such as Aamir, Shah Rukh and Dilip Kumar were like "snakes", considering their statements... "From Dilip Kumar to Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir, we gave everyone of them a lot of love. However, the statements coming from them make us feel as if we have nurtured snakes," said Mr Kadam...'
'It's okay for the prime minister to be celebrated by a stadium full of British citizens who believe India is too filthy and corrupt to live in. It isn't okay for an Indian to say that his family feels vulnerable as a religious minority... Aamir Khan and his wife, Kiran Rao are not the only ones to have wondered if they should leave the country because they feel vulnerable and worried for their child’s future, because of the religious nationalism and the bigotry that attends it. But they are perhaps the only ones with a public profile to say this out loud.
'Assam Governor P B Acharya was caught in another controversy on Sunday as he said that Indian Muslims are free to go anywhere, including Pakistan and Bangladesh. His remark came a day after he was reported to have said that “Hindustan is for Hindus”. As his reported statement — quoted by a section of the local media — came under fire, Acharya held a press conference on Sunday, where he claimed that he had been misquoted. However, he stirred a fresh row, with his response to a question on Indian Muslims who face persecution. “They (Indian Muslims) are free to go anywhere.
Statement issued by filmmakers from India regarding the Nepal blockade. Issued at the Film South Asia, Kathmandu / 21 November 2015
As filmmakers from India who have gathered to share our work at the Film South Asia in Kathmandu this week, we would like to place on record our solidarity with the people of Nepal who are presently reeling from a grave humanitarian crisis, arising from what is tantamount to an economic blockade.
'...Repeating the 2014 success seems to be the overarching aim of the elaborate planning behind meticulously orchestrated welcomes accorded Modi during his trips to the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Britain over the past 14 months. The activities do not violate Indian law. The Overseas Friends of BJP will continue to orchestrate the key part in this scheme. The vast majority of OFBJP ranks are members of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, the foreign arm of the Hindu chauvinist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
'Relations between Nepal and India have frozen over what continues to be an impasse over the Himalayan nation’s Constitution. The blockade continues with the anti-India sentiment in Nepal soaring as the country faces an acute shortage of cooking gas, fuel, and life saving medicines. China has come to the rescue and signed agreements with Nepal for the supply of cooking gas and fuel.
'...They are citizens of prosperous Western countries where they have seized opportunities and bettered their material lives, while preserving their Indianness in their food, festivals, views, entertainment, family and social lives. So far, India had been the place where their villages and towns of origin were located, and where they returned out a sense of duty and family. They loved India, but were embarrassed by its poverty, filth and lack of infrastructure and so they returned with a sense of relief to their cleaner, more efficient and prosperous lives in their adopted country.
'His 2003 visit to the UK was a nerve-racking and politically fraught affair, writes Satyabrata Pal, who was India’s Deputy High Commissioner in London at the time... Throughout 2002, after the Gujarat riots, the British media was up in arms, particularly since a family of Indian origin was among the Muslim victims. The Conservatives demanded that the Labour government live up to its claim that it ran an ethical foreign policy, Amnesty and other human rights organisations were on the warpath, the NRIs were split down the middle, and the bilateral relationship came under strain.
'According to various media reports, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy fiercely attacked Rahul Gandhi, claiming that the Congress vice-president was a citizen of UK. He said that since India doesn’t allow the citizenship of two countries, his Indian citizenship should be cancelled. He claimed that he had evidence that Rahul Gandhi had declared himself a British citizen from 2003-2009 for the purpose of floating a private company in London...'
