This is how I felt while living in Maharashtra (etc). I did not intend or care or feel the need to learn the language or culture of anywhere in India to live there. Being a law abiding citizen of India was enough. There was nothing to prove to fellow citizens no matter which part of the country they lived or ‘belonged to’.

Shahrukh Khan, during a Twitter townhall with a leading media outfit, said that he is open to the idea of  giving up his award as a symbolic means of protest against extreme intolerance in India.

“Yes, as a symbolic gesture I would give it up,” the Actor said, referring to the spate of other film personalities, artists, writers, scientists and others who have returned awards as a measure of protest in recent months. “I do think there is intolerance. There is extreme intolerance,” the actor added in a hard hitting statement.

Shahrukh Khan, when asked about communalism in the country, reiterated the importance of India’s secular fabric. When asked about his identity as a Muslim in India, the actor said: “No one can question my patriotism. How dare anyone?” adding that the biggest mistake a patriot could make was to go against secularism.

Actor Shah Rukh Khan, celebrating his 50th birthday…