Indore: Why does India have a population problem? “Due to people like Aamir Khan,” BJP MP Sudhir Gupta said on Sunday night, triggering nationwide outrage.
“When he should be a grandfather, he is looking around for a third bride after divorcing two wives,” Gupta said in a TV debate on India’s population issues.
The two-time MP from Mandsaur got the support of Madhya Pradesh environment minister Hardeep Singh Dang, who said his statements were “100% correct”. Dang is among those who had switched from Congress to BJP after Jyotiraditya Scindia’s rebellion.
BJP distanced itself from the Gupta’s and Dang’s remarks. “Their statements on Aamir Khan are their individual opinions. BJP has nothing to do with it. As far as the population issue is concerned, appropriate steps are being taken by the government to control it,” said BJP state secretary and spokesman Rajnish Agrawal.
Videos of Gupta’s statements went viral on Monday. He is heard saying: “Talking in Indian perspective, Aamir Khan is a hero of people…. he is not worried for his first wife Reena, who is left with two kids, or second wife Kiran Rao, who has one child…. But ‘grandfather’ Aamir is on the lookout for a third (wife).”
“Is this India's message to the world?” the two-time MP from Mandsaur asked. “It’s unfortunate that people like Aamir Khan have a role to play in population imbalance in the country.”
India’s territory has not expanded but its population has touched the 140-crore mark, he said. “This is not something to celebrate. If we look back, Pakistan got a relatively greater share of land but less population during the Partition,” he argued.
Gupta was backed by state minister Dang, who said that Aamir should walk the talk. “You don’t become a hero by acting in movies. You have to sacrifice a lot to achieve the status,” he said.
Congress condemned the statements as ‘divisive’. Party state spokesman Narendra Saluja said, “The Constitution has given the right to every person to remarry after legal divorce. It is not right to isolate Amir Khan on the basis of his religion. It shows the divisive mentality of BJP leaders.”
Referring to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent statement that the “DNA of Hindus and Muslims is the same”, Saluja said that BJP leaders have now shown their ‘true colours’. “They want to divide society on religious lines,” he said.
“Talking in Indian perspective, Aamir Khan is a hero of people….he is not worried for his first wife Reena, who is left with two kids, or second wife Kiran Rao, who has one child…. But ‘grandfather’ Aamir is on the lookout for a third (wife)...“It’s unfortunate that people like Aamir Khan have a role to play in population imbalance in the country
