Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan‘s beautiful son, Taimur Ali Khan has been making news since before his birth. While the controversy and Internet trolls surrounding his name were in bad taste, many celebs took a stand for the couple. Saif has earlier responded to claims that said Taimur is similar to the Turkish conquerer Timur, and he yet again clarified the similarity in an interview with NDTV, where he said:
I’m aware that there’s a certain amount of Islamophobia in the world today and as Muslims, if we don’t somehow own it then who will? I can’t very well name my son Alexander and realistically can’t name him Ram. So why not a nice Muslim name and bring him up with secular values so that people meeting him say ‘what a nice guy’ and that’s the end of the name
He further elaborated his point, and he did it perfectly well, as he said:
I am aware that there is a Turkish ruler who is possibly a little violent. That was Timur and this is Taimur. It might sound similar because it has similar roots. Also, to judge the past by today’s lens is a little far out. A name doesn’t really mean anything. Asoka is a violent name then. There’s Alexander too.
In the same interview, Saif also made light of the situation by saying:
One of Timur’s most able generals was his son, and his name was Shah Rukh.
Well said, Saif! Hopefully this will shut down haters who anyway do not have any business interfering in what the parents want to name their son. We need more people like #Saifeena!
You can watch the entire interview here.