Aamir Khan's fifteen minutes of angst

By John Cheeran
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan's foray into street protest has put him in a tight spot.
Aamir would have expected the onlookers to applaud when, on April 14, he took up the cause of farmers displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Dam project coming up in Narmada.
His move has created a political storm in Gujarat, the state that will reap maximum benefits from the dam project.
Apparently, Aamir's spin doctors have done a bad job in briefing him about the subject. Reports say that political activists in Gujarat have burnt posters and stormed theatres showing his latest release Rang de Basanti.
Indian media are discussing the many shades of the Aamir Khan episode in the discredited NBA movement. Celebrity involvement in NGO activism backfires, some of them point out. May be. May be not.
Aamir has the freedom to support any cause that catches his fancy. In an interview to the Indian Express he has said: "I don't have any past history with the aandolan. I'm not even fully ware of their history. There are two sides to every story and I'm not equipped to comment on them. I'm not an environmentalist, neither am I an activist. But I'm clearly in support of rehabilitation."
Good.
But does his support ends with sharing the space with activists for a few minutes?
Will Aamir spend his own money so that a few of the farmers can buy land of their choice?
I would be happy if the Bollywood actor pays his Income Tax without fudging the books.
I wish someone dug up the dirt on Bollywood actors' IT outstanding before they embark on espousing noble causes.