Noted American author Dale Carnegie once said,”Any fool can criticise, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.”
These lines can be used for Saif Ali Khan, who has been at the centre of an unwarranted controversy for a fault he never committed. Having named his son Taimur, he invited wrath from the right-wing trolls who termed the name as barbaric. The adorable baby, who was born on 20 December last year, has been a trending figure since then. Sadly, the endless debate is for a wrong reason.
Now, the Omkara actor has finally broken his silence on the entire issue. The 46-year-old actor told Mumbai Mirror:
Social media just makes it clear what everybody is thinking in a sense. There is a lot of anonymity from the side of the people who are doing the talking so they feel free to say whatever they like, and sometimes they get very nasty…And that’s fine. It doesn’t mean that twenty, thirty or forty years ago people weren’t thinking similar things but maybe they did not have an outlet then
The wise can read between the lines. Saif was clearly hinting at the army of right-wing trolls who have ‘guarded’ social media from ‘anti-national’ posts, also volunteering to take on seditious users irrespective of their stature. So when Saif and Kareena announced the baby’s name, the pseudo-patriots took no time in expressing their disdain for Taimur. Jokes, memes which were crude in nature dominated my Twitter feed—this, I always disliked. Now, read what our nawab had to say further.
Yes, there were some people who raised some objections but obviously just to look at medieval history and to make value judgments is, I think, ridiculous, and a lot of people have said that on my behalf. I feel quite confident that we don’t live in a right-wing society. As Yet. India is still liberal and people are still open minded.
Read that again, trolls. This is the same Saif whom you once accused of ‘love jihad’ when he tied the knot with Kareena Kapoor. In spite of having dealt with trolls, he continues to maintain that India is a liberal country and people are open minded. SLOW CLAPS TO YOU HATERS!
Since the Narendra Modi government came to power in the summer of 2014, several prominent personalities have risen up against what they term as a threat to the right of freedom and expression. Bollywood A-listers like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Farhan Akhtar and others have voiced their concerns over the same. When Saif, who traces his lineage to Pataudis and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, terms the prevalent Indian society as liberal. The gesture is worthy of an applause!
Also read: Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan’s baby ‘Taimur’ pays the price for being named in Modi’s India
