HSS 201 Professional Ethics & Values

CASE PRESENTATION
By:Nidhi Mookim U101113FCS178
Shriya Biju - U101113FCS147

Aamir Khan: The Intolerance

Debacle

#Intolerance - Introduction
One word that dominated the year 2015 was intolerance.
It was part of national headlines in all newspapers and
television channels. It was trending on social media and it
was even a topic of debate in the Parliament.
Intolerance means unwillingness to accept views,
beliefs, or behaviour that differ from one's own.

How tolerant are we?

Holy cow! Ban on beef by several state
governments
Death in Dadri: Man lynched to death on
suspicion of eating beef.
Shiv Sena and the anti-Pakistan protests.
Award wapsi: Writers, artists and scientists take
a stand.
Shahrukh Khan comments on intolerance and
receives a backlash

Where there is smoke.

Facts of the Case:

Speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism, Aamir Khan, said:
To complete my answer that there is a sense of fear more than there was
earlier. I do feel there is a sense of insecurity. When I sit at home and talk to
Kiran. (Wife) Kiran and I have lived all our lives in India. For the first time,
she said, should we move out of India? Thats a disastrous and big statement
for Kiran to make to me. She fears for her child. She fears about what the
atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every
day. That does indicate that there is a sense of growing disquiet growing
sense of despondency. You feel depressed, you feel low, why is it happening?
This feeling exists in me too.

.there is fire
Reactions:
Right-wing fringe groups felt insulted and asked
him to relocate to Pakistan!
The Hindu Sena protested in front of his house,
even organised a mock funeral!
Some even labelled him a snake!
Meanwhile, news emerged that Aamir had asked
his wife Kiran and son Azad to move out of
Mumbai for a while out of fear.

Social media was full of posts condemning Aamir Khan

and making bizarre, faulty correlations like this. He
was removed as the Incredible India brand
ambassador.
The case has been filed under IPC section 124 A
(sedition), 153 A (promoting enmity between different
groups on religious grounds) 153 B (Imputations) and
505 (statements conducing to public mischief) by a
lawyer in Lucknow.

Aamir khan was also removed as the brand ambassador of

Snapdeal because people started boycotting the e-commerce
site after his comment on intolerance, as a mark of
patriotism.

Analysis: Conflict in Roles

As the brand ambassador of Incredible India, it was
not really ethical of him to make a statement such as
this.
As a citizen of India, he has the freedom of speech to
comment on the state of his nation.
Controversial remarks by politicians to grab
spotlight.
Media plays a very important role in adding fuel to
the fire by exaggerating to obtain high TRPs, thus,
misleading people

The Irony of it all

Intolerant reaction to refute a statement on
intolerance.
Living in denial doesnt change facts. Better to
accept and work towards changing it.
There is a strong force to be diplomatic and keep
smiling in public.

After extreme reactions, the actor had to come out

and justify his statements as a damage control
scheme.

So...what do we learn from this?

Every individual in this country has their freedom
of expression, so do Aamir Khan and his wife and
others.
Taking law into our own hands, leads to nothing
but chaos and more damage.
Having an opinion is not a crime and until and
unless it is not abusive an individual should not
be punished for it.

Lessons for Future:

Intolerance exists. Recent examples prove that
Coldplay new music video dissatisfaction, Shahrukh
Khans shooting stalled, backlash on Priyanka
Chopras comments and many more.
Promote tolerance -We should learn to accept and
respect others point of views even if it contradicts
our own.
Improve Indias image by improving India and not
from stopping people from talking about its issues.

THANK YOU!! :)
Any Questions?