Let me say, straight out, that I do not accept the basic distinction that Amitabh Bachchan is trying to make between being a brand ambassador for Gujarat and a brand ambassador for Narendra Modi.

   All of us know how Amitabh agreed to become a brand ambassador, how he went to see Narendra Modi, how he was photographed cosying up to Modi, asking for entertainment tax exemption and how he accepted Modi’s request to do something for Gujarat.

   It is clear that his work for Gujarat flows directly from his meeting with Modi. It is as clear that if he disapproved of Modi, he would have said no. To make a distinction of a sort that he is now engaging in, is plain silly.

   That said, I think the Congress is being even sillier.

   First of all, Amitabh has the right to like any politician. If he does not disapprove of Modi, then that is his choice. We may not agree with him. But we have no right to stop him from making that choice or to treat him as some kind of pariah because of his political preferences.

   And yet, that is exactly what the Congress party is now doing. It is acting as though Bachchan has become some kind of untouchable because of his political preferences and must therefore be treated as a non-person by Congress-ruled states and the central government.

   Even if Bachchan was a nobody, this policy would be disgraceful. The basis of Indian democracy is that we respect the choices that people make. I have no time for Modi but I do not look down on the people of Gujarat for electing him. When the US government refused him a visa, I protested on the grounds that as long as Modi was a legally elected Indian chief minister, the US had to treat him with the respect due to an Indian public official.

   That distinction is an important one. I believe that Modi is a mass murderer. But I do not expect others to necessarily share my views. I do not look down on those who like Modi. I certainly do not treat them as pariahs because their political views are not the same as mine. And because Modi holds a Constitutional post, he is entitled to the respect due to the holder of that post. (Which is why I have no time for people who try to stop him from speaking in public and who claim that he should never be invited to functions or seminars).

   I disapprove heartily of Amitabh’s decision to represent Modi’s Gujarat. But I do not deny that he has the right to make his own choices. And I think it is disgraceful to treat him like a pariah only because his political decisions do not meet with the approval of the Congress party.

   Besides, if the Congress is going to take the line that anybody who endorses Modi should be boycotted, where does all this stop? What about Sunil Mittal who has been even more complimentary than Amitabh about Modi? What about Anil Ambani who has said that Modi should be Prime Minister? What about Ratan Tata who has publicly endorsed Modi?

   I don’t see the Congress making any moves to boycott any of these people.

   So why pick on Amitabh?

   The only explanation that fits is that Congressmen are trying to be more loyal than the Queen. They know that the Bachchans and the Gandhis have had a falling out and think that they will please their leader by calling for a boycott of Bachchan.

   I think they’re wrong on this score. And even if they were right, it would still be morally reprehensible to treat people as pariahs only because of their political choices.

   Amitabh Bachchan is the biggest star India has ever seen. Many of those who admire his body of work do not necessarily approve of his political choices. How can somebody of his sensibilities hang around with the Samajwadi Party? How can he campaign for the SP while simultaneously pretending that he is not actually campaigning? How can he be so pally pally with Bal Thackeray even as the Shiv Sena terrorizes the film industry? How can he disown the values upheld by his father, Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan? How can he forget all the impassioned speeches about secular values that he made as a Congress MP? And now, how can he associate with Narendra Modi?

   But these are questions for Amitabh’s own conscience. Some of his friends and former friends may believe that he has sold his soul to the devil and that he is quite willing to lend the weight of his personal prestige to anybody whose help he needs, no matter what that person stands for. But even those of us who disapprove of his choices will disapprove even more of what the Congress is doing.

   The basis of our objections to the likes of Thackeray and Narendra Modi is that they oppose the values of a liberal society. But if we ourselves desecrate the same values, boycotting and singling out an individual on the basis of his political choices, then do we have any right to complain?

   All of us who admire Amitabh are shocked and dismayed by the company he chooses to keep. But it is his life and his decision. For us to victimize him for those decisions would be for us to become just like all those we claim to oppose.