Department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) secretary Amitabh Kant has said that actor Aamir Khan had damaged the brand identity of the country with his remarks on intolerance.
Kant made these remarks on Monday at the 36th convocation of National Institute of Design (NID) where he was the chief guest, The Times of India reported. Kant was one of the minds over behind the launch of Incredible India campaign .
He said: “A brand ambassador promotes a brand. People will come to India and tourist flow will increase only if the brand ambassador of 'Incredible India' promotes India as incredible India. But if the brand ambassador of India says India is intolerant, he is surely not working as a brand ambassador of India,"
Khan had spoken about intolerance in India while speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in New Delhi in November 2015. Aamir’s comments on intolerance came after fellow Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan too expressed concerns earlier that month.
At the Goenka awards ceremony Khan had said, “I can't deny. I have been alarmed by a number of incidents,” and he even considered moving out of the country.
Kant continued: "He is damaging the brand identity of the country. People will not come to India after hearing him. An ambassador has to promote the brand, not destroy the brand. The brand ambassador must be the best brand ambassador for promoting India, he cannot be the destroyer of the brand," added Kant.
These remarks come in the wake of reports that Khan’s contract as the brand ambassador of Incredible India was not renewed after it expired in the first week of January. However, the ministry of tourism had avoided a direct reply to an RTI question on whether Khan was a brand ambassador for Incredible India. The ministry had told RTI activist Ulhhas PR that the government had hired an agency which had hired Khan.