IANS/Kolkata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday said nobody had the right to ask Bollywood actor Aaamir Khan to go to Pakistan.
“Whatever Aamir has said, whether it is correct or not, this is his personal right,” Banerjee said referring to his controversial remarks that his wife Kiran Rao had discussed moving out of India due to growing intolerance.
“His wife told him something. And he talked about it. It is his democratic right. And for that he is being asked to leave the country,” Banerjee said.
In a veiled reference to the Bharatiya Janata Party and rightwing Hindu groups, she said some people were behaving as if the country belonged only to them.
“This is our place of birth, place of work. Nobody has the right to tell anybody that you go to Pakistan, you leave the country. We are all Indians.”
Banerjee said she had no problem if the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was used against her and she was jailed for speaking in favour of secularism.
“Whenever anyone speaks out against them, they threaten them with a CBI probe. I say do it. So long as they are in power, let them do whatever they can. But beware, it’s great to have guts, but not great to be audacious.
Banerjee alleged that many celebrities were being pressured to issue counter-statements opposing actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and music director A R Rahman, who have spoken about rising intolerance.
She claimed even her party MP and Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty was too scared to even speak to her.
“Even a person like Mithun Chakraborty cannot speak to me out of fear. He is my party MP... the way he is terrorised...”



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