Aamir Khan said that his children’s names Junaid, Ira and Azad Rao Khan, which may sound Muslim names, were decided by his Hindu wives. His names are Junaid Khan and Ira Khan from his first wife Reena Dutta, while Azad is from his second wife Kiran Rao.
Aamir Khan has finally responded to the allegations that were doing the rounds on social media since the release of Rajkumar Hirani’s satirical film PK in 2014. He defended the film, saying that it targets religion. Along with this, he also responded to the allegations that PK supports love jihad.
Aamir said, “They are wrong. We are not against any religion. We respect all religions and all religious people. This film just tells us to be careful of those who take advantage of religion to fool the common man and extort money from them. You will find such people in every religion.
This was the only purpose of the film.” In an interview with India TV, Aamir also clarified his opinion on the scene in which he showed an Indian Hindu woman (Anushka Sharma) trying to marry a Pakistani Muslim man (late Sushant Singh Rajput). He said that when people of two religions, especially Hindus and Muslims, fall in love and get married, it is not always love jihad.
Aamir argued, “It is just humanity. It is above religion.” He asked if his sister and daughter marrying Hindu men was love jihad. Aamir’s sister and actor Nikhat is married to Santosh Hegde while his other sister Farhat’s husband is Rajiv Dutta. Meanwhile, Aamir’s daughter Ira Khan married Nupur Shikhare last year.
Aamir himself has married two Hindu women – Reena Dutta and Kiran Rao in 1988 and 2005 respectively. When asked why he married Indian women, his children are named Ira Khan, Junaid Khan and Azad Rao Khan, Aamir replied, “My children are named by my wives. There was no interference from my side.
Husbands don’t have much say.” He revealed that his first wife Reena named his children Junaid and Ira. “Let me tell you that Ira is another name for (Goddess) Saraswati. Have you heard of Iravati? It’s just that Reena wanted to pronounce it differently,” Aamir told.
He claimed that Ira’s name was taken from former BJP minister Maneka Gandhi’s book The Penguin Book of Hindu Names. Aamir also revealed that his second wife and filmmaker Kiran Rao named their son Azad after her great ancestor Maulana Azad, who was a freedom fighter and the first education minister of independent India.
Aamir said, “Azad is not a Muslim name. Haven’t you heard of Chandrashekhar Azad? He was also a freedom fighter. It’s a neutral name.” Aamir said that since he gets trolled from both sides, it proves that he is doing the right thing. Aamir said, “I am very proud that I am a Muslim. I am also proud that I am an Indian.
Both these statements are true.” He pointed out that no other Indian actor has been as socially conscious as him. For example: his TV show Satyamev Jayate and his NGO Paani Foundation. Aamir claimed that he drew attention to issues in Satyamev Jayate that concern all religions. Aamir said, “Have you seen the film Secret Superstar? What is the religion of that family? So there is nothing like that.” His 2017 blockbuster coming-of-age musical Secret Superstar, starring Zaira Wasim, revolved around issues of domestic violence and curbing ambitions in a Muslim family.
