Popular Aamir has right to express a view, nation must wake up, says Yechury

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury backed the comment by Aamir Khan and said that he has the right to express his opinion and if the actor has been forced to say what he said then the nation should wake up and take cognisance of what is happening.

"This is the opinion of an individual. Some may agree some may disagree. But the freedom of expression we have here and Aamir Khan is somebody who is very very popular. If he has been forced to say what he said then the nation should wake up and take cognisance of what is happening," he said.

Yechury also pointed out that the comment by the actor came after the Bihar election.

"This statement came after all the charges of what you call the 'manufactured protest' and after the Bihar election and after the BJP's rout in the Bihar election. So if he is saying this then this is the way some of the most creative minds of our country are choosing to respond to the realities on the ground. And this is something that doesn't seem to be stopping. Some of the other Sahitya Akademi Award winners have announced that they are returning their awards," he added.

Yechury further added that this was a serious issue before the country and added that the people may have different opinions but to dismiss this issue completely is more of denial.

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

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

"When I chat with Kiran at home, she says should we move out of India? That's a disastrous and 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," said Aamir.