Home Minister Rajnath Singh during a discussion on Constitution in Lok Sabha
Amid a controversy over Aamir Khan's "leaving India" comments linked to the 'intolerance debate', Home Minister Rajnath Singh's tribute to BR Ambedkar, the father of the Constitution, appeared to cloak a dig at the actor.
"(BR Ambedkar) had to go through condemnation, insult and barbs, but he controlled his emotion and put forth and took an objective view for India. He never said how he was being ignored and insulted in India. He said I will stay in India and keeping India's values and culture in mind, I will strengthen the country," Mr Singh said, opening a
special discussion on the Constitution in Parliament.
The
government had bristled at Aamir Khan's comments linked to perceived "rise in intolerance" in the country. The actor had said at an event on Monday that his wife Kiran Rao had expressed worry.
"When I chat with Kiran at home, she says, 'should we move out of India?' That's a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day. That does indicate that there is this sense of growing disquiet, there is growing despondency apart from alarm," Mr Khan had said.
Yesterday, responding to the storm of criticism after the comment, the 50-year-old star said in a
statement: "
I stand by everything that I have said in my interview. To all those people who are calling me anti-national, I would like to say that I am proud to be Indian, and I do not need anyone's permission nor endorsement for that. To all the people shouting obscenities at me for speaking my heart out, it saddens me to say you are only proving my point."
The
discussion in Parliament is being held to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar.
The home minister also said that the word "secular" was being misused in politics. "(BR) Ambedkar did not use the word secular in the preamble of the Constitution. That's because India is panth-nirpeksh (non-sectarian) traditionally," he said.