Intolerance debate: Mulayam advises Centre to talk to Aamir

Says actor just expressed his personal opinion, brushes off incident as a non-issue

Expressing his support over Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday suggested the Centre to talk to the former and enquire about his problems.

"Aamir has just expressed his personal opinion. That's the beauty of India where everyone can put forward his views. It is not even an issue," Mulayam told the media here.

"It is the responsibility of the government to call him and ask where he is facing problems and difficulties. There must be something that would have bothered him, that's why such a great actor and artist like Aamir is making such statements," he added.

Meanwhile, Aamir has been slapped with sedition charges in the Kanpur sessions court for his 'intolerance' statement. The hearing on this matter will take place on December 1.

The case has been filed under IPC Sections 124 A (sedition), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds) 153 B (Imputations) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief).

Speaking at the eighth edition of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, Aamir had earlier expressed alarm and despondency over the rise in cases displaying intolerance in the last six to eight months.

He had said that a sense of 'insecurity' and 'fear' had seeped deep within society.

"When I go home and talk to Kiran (Aamir's wife), for the first time she says, 'Should we move out of India?'" Khan said.