In response to the confusion over Aamir Khan’s removal as brand ambassador of ‘Incredible India’ the Ministry of Tourism clarified that there was no change in the stand of the ministry in this matter.
“At present, we have a contractual agreement with creative agency Mc Cann Worldwide to produce a social awareness campaign, which featured Aamir Khan,” the Ministry posted a series of tweets on its official Twitter handle.
The rumors about the ‘PK’ actor’s removal started after BJP leader Amit Malviya tweeted earlier in the day, “Aamir Khan removed as brand ambassador of Incredible #India.”
Reports suggested that Aamir Khan was ‘sacked’ as the brand ambassador of the campaign for his comments on an intolerance couple of months ago. He had said that he was “alarmed” at the number of incidents happening in the country and that his wife Kiran Rao even suggested moving out of the country.
"When I chat with Kiran at home, she says, 'Should we move out of India?' That's a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day," the actor had said speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in November last year.
The actor was severely criticised by politicians as well as his industry colleagues for his statement. He also received a lot of flak from social media users. He was called anti-national and his effigies were burnt and the actor had to be provided with extra security.
‘Incredible India’ is a government campaign to promote the country overseas. It was conceptualized in 2002 by V Sunil, then Creative Director of O&M Delhi, and Amitabh Kant, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism. Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador of the campaign has starred in a series of print and TV commercials that have the hook line ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’.
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