India's defence minister faces backlash after verbal attack on Aamir Khan

Aamir stirred a controversy last year after stating that he and his wife felt a "sense of insecurity" in India

Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, on Saturday, used Aamir Khan as an example when he stated that anyone who speaks against the country must be “taught a lesson” in the same way that an “actor” and an “online trading company” were taught.

While Parrikar took no names, it was evident that he was referring to the backlash Aamir Khan received in November 2015 after stating that he and his wife felt a "sense of insecurity" due to the increasing religious intolerance in India.

“I am only trying to point out… if anyone speaks like this, he has to be taught a lesson of his life,” Parrikar said at a ceremony to launch the Marathi edition of a book by journalist Nitin Gokhale, reports Indian Express.

Still from Indian Express video.



Referring to e-commerce giant Snapdeal, for which Aamir was brand ambassador, Parrikar admitted to instigating the backlash the actor faced from the company following his controversial statement.

Manohar said, "When the actor did this… then the company which he was endorsing was… an online trading company. Some of our people are very smart, I know. There was a team which was working on this. They were telling people you order and return it… The company should learn a lesson, they had to pull his advertisement."

Referring to Aamir's statement, Parrikar said, “That was a very arrogant statement, we have to love our nation.”





Following this revelation, Parrikar has been criticised for wanting to "teach a lesson" to his own countrymen.

Parrikar has only confirmed what we've known: use of cyber-mobs to lynch those daring to question u. Regret is a new eco startup succumbing

— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) July 31, 2016

So glad @manoharparrikar admits that govt-backed lynch mobs bullied @snapdeal into dropping @aamir_khan. 0 respect for #Snapdeal anyway

— Anna MM Vetticad (@annavetticad) July 31, 2016

Full credit to @manoharparrikar amazing honesty to admit that "smart teams" attacked @snapdeal & @aamir_khan GOI supports attack on citizens

— Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) July 31, 2016

Unsettling rhetoric by the honourable defence minister on Aamir Khan. Thought the only time we should look back is to see how far we've come

— Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) July 31, 2016

The PK star had earlier said, “I have been alarmed. I can’t deny. I have been alarmed by a number of incidents... When I chat with Kiran at home, she says, ‘Should we move out of India?’ That’s a disastrous and a big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day."

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