Bollywood A-listers Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan decided to name their newborn son Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi; subsequently, India rose in horror and uproar. While the name means ‘iron’ in ancient Turkic languages, the 14th century conqueror often referred to himself as the ‘sword of Islam’ and is reported to have killed over 12 million people in his military campaigns
Bollywood A-listers Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan decided to name their newborn son Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi; subsequently, India rose in horror and uproar. While the name means ‘iron’ in ancient Turkic languages, the 14th century conqueror often referred to himself as the ‘sword of Islam’ and is reported to have killed over 12 million people in his military campaigns. India, or at least the Indian trolls on Twitter, turned it into a Hindu-Muslim thing and mocked the celebrity couple for naming their next son ‘Ajmal Kasab Ali Khan’. All sorts of acidic vitriol started pouring in; not something you anticipate at a time of happy celebration.
While the parents have been quiet on the issue, limiting their public interaction to an announcement on the arrival of the baby (all pictures circulating the Internet were reportedly fake), Kareena’s uncle, Rishi Kapoor was perhaps the only family member who stood up in their defence and that too quite aggressively so. When one troll commented “@chintskap wat a downfall frm prithvi raj kapoor to taimur ali..ur ancestors soul must be weeping today..shame on u ppl..” (sic) he replied, “ You mind your f***ing business what my ancestors must be feeling. Apna kaam karo.” To another troll he replied, “Alexander and Sikander were no saints. They are common names in the world. Apna kaam karo na tum. Tumko kya takleef hai?”
Let’s see how long this takleef lasts and whether the pressure will force the parents to change the baby’s name.
