Shahrukh Khan @ 50: Stupid to be intolerant, not being secular is crime in this country

November 2, 2015, NewsCrunch

Bollywood’s top star Shahrukh Khan, who turned 50 on Monday, came out strongly against the rising intolerance in the country in a Twitter townhall event.

“It's stupid to be religiously intolerant… Not being secular in this country is the worst kind of crime you can do as a patriot," he said.

The townhall was organised by India Today TV, whose senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai read out the questions fans were tweeting in real time.

Though the event began with routine questions on his movies and habits, it soon heated up with tweets pouring in on what Shahrukh thought about the current controversy that has grabbed headlines.

Shahrukh agreed that intolerance was growing in the country. He warned that youngsters would not accept an India, which was not secular, happy in its approach and allowing people to be what they were.

He also came out strongly in support of writers, who have returned their Akademi awards in protest. He described their action as brave, honest and clean.

Bollywood stars instinctively avoid controversial topics. Amitabh bachchan hadfamously said on camera that he did not know that beef had been banned in Maharashtra. Shahrukh is among the few exceptions, who do not mind taking a stand on sensitive issues.

Shahrukh defended Bollywod’s reluctance to become socially more relevant. "With great power comes great vulnerabilities," he said, pointing out that hundreds of people’s livelihood would be affected if his movies were stopped from screening by disgruntled elements.