Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar sparked outrage on Sunday after mocking actor Aamir Khan for his last year’s remark that he felt there was “growing disquiet” in the country ever since the BJP came to power in 2014. The Opposition lambasted Mr. Parrikar for saying that Mr. Khan was “taught a lesson” as Snapdeal, an online trading company he represented as a brand ambassador, broke away from him.
“RSS & Parrikarji want to teach everyone a lesson. Here’s a lesson for you: hate is the preserve of the coward and it never wins,” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
Speaking at a book launch on Saturday, Mr. Parrikar raked up Mr. Khan’s remark without naming him directly and made a startling revelation: he said that he knew “a team” that exerted pressure on Snapdeal with an aim that Mr. Khan was removed as its brand ambassador.
“I know there was a team working on this which was telling people you order [Snapdeal products] and return it ... The company needs to be taught a lesson [for signing up Khan as its brand ambassador] ... They had to cancel their advertisement with the actor,” Mr. Parrikar said without naming the company.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that such statements were evidence that “provocation comes from the top”, encouraging vigilantism and fuelling “organised mob-violence under various pretexts against many social groups”.
“Minister confirms that organised bullying and commercial boycott of those who disagree with RSS-BJP is their politics,” he said.
‘Country is supreme’
Meanwhile, Mr. Parrikar on Sunday said he did not target any specific person but was against “overall unrest”. Mr. Parrikar said he was not opposed to the “freedom of expression, but feels that country is supreme”. “I have not taken anybody’s name. I had said that people who don’t respect the country should be opposed ... Such people should be opposed in a democratic manner,” Mr. Parrikar said.
(With PTI inputs)
