'Tolerance is in India's DNA', Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Aamir Khan's remarks

NEW DELHI: Amid controversy over Aamir Khan's remarks on intolerance, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said that tolerance is in India's DNA and the actor need not leave the country, advising him to not come under the influence of "fabricated political propaganda".

"Tolerance is in India's DNA. There is no space for intolerance in the country. People don't need to get influenced by fabricated political propaganda," Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in a tweet today.

"There is nothing wrong as peace and harmony are prevailing in the country. So Aamir does not need to leave the country. He should stay back and should not come under the influence of fabricated political propaganda," he added.

Khan was at the centre of a raging debate after he expressed "alarm and despondency" over the rise in incidents of intolerance in the last six to eight months in an interaction at a ceremony here.

"Kiran (his wife) and I have lived all our life in India. For the first time, she said, should we move out of India... She fears for her child, she fears about what the atmosphere around us will be," the actor had said on Monday.

Khan also supported those returning their awards, saying one of the ways for creative people to express their dissatisfaction or disappointment was by giving back awards.