Mumbai: Bollywood actor Aamir Khan became one of the latest to be included under the banner of “anti-nationals” in the country, after he drew heavy flak on social media for meeting Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan while shooting for his upcoming venture ‘Laal Singh Chadda’ in Istanbul. Pictures of his meeting took a communal turn with netizens, particularly supporters of prime minister Narendra Modi, slamming him for calling India unsafe some years ago.
Sharing pictures of Khan and Erdogan’s official meet, Emine tweeted, “I had the great pleasure of meeting @aamir_khan, the world-renowned Indian actor, filmmaker, and director, in Istanbul. I was happy to learn that Aamir decided to wrap up the shooting of his latest movie ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ in different parts of Turkey. I look forward to it!”
As soon as the pictures went viral on the internet, netizens started criticizing the ‘Secret Suprestar’ actor for meeting Erdogan, pointing the strained relations between India and Turkey. India’s relationship with Turkey has deteriorated in the past several months, particularly after Article 370 was scrapped in Kashmir last year. Turkey has continued to side with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue and the former’s foreign ministry spokesperson had claimed that revoking Article 370 has not brough any peace in the region.
Many trolled the actor for being “anti-national” and said it was unwise of him to hold an official meet with Turkish First Lady at the moment. It may also be recalled that many people in India, like those from other countries, also took to social media to censure Ermine Erdogan’s husband and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Ergodan for converting the world-famous monument Hagia Sophia (which was turned into a museum under Mustafa Kemal Attaturk decades ago) into a mosque.