In a chilling revelation, Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar gave strong indications that online marketplace Snapdeal was strategically forced to remove Aamir Khan as their brand ambassador after the later had voiced a ‘sense of insecurity’ living in the country.
Parrikar was speaking at a book launch in Maharashtra, where he strongly stated that anyone who expressed less than unquestioning devotion towards the country had to be “taught a lesson of his life”.
He went on to give an example of a certain actor and an ‘online trading company’, who had got their punishment last year for violating this line.
His reference to Aamir Khan was crystal clear, who had voiced a “sense of insecurity” while speaking at an award function in November. Khan had expressed how his wife and he had even contemplated ‘leaving the country’ because they were troubled by the seemingly intolerant environment.
Consequently, in February, Snapdeal chose not to renew their contract with him. They issued a statement weeks later that very carefully attempted to establish its nationalist credentials.
“Snapdeal is neither connected nor plays a role in comments made by Aamir Khan in his personal capacity. Snapdeal is a proud Indian company built by passionate young Indians focused on building an inclusive digital India,” it read.
Narrating the incident, Parrikar said, “There was a team, which I know, which was working on this. They were telling people you order and return it… The company should learn a lesson; they had to pull his advertisement.”
Snapdeal was already in mud at the moment with a lot of backlash on social media, which also led to a loss of customers. A couple of months later, it formally snapped ties with Khan.
Aamir Khan’s comments had come shortly after the murder of rationalists and the lynching of a Muslim man by a mob in Dadri town in Uttar Pradesh on suspicion that he had beef in his fridge had generated a heated conversation about intolerance. This prompted several eminent writers to return their Sahitya Akademi awards in protest. Suddenly, it seemed to push the intolerance debate into extreme territory.
