MUMBAI: Intensifying its protest against actor Shah Rukh Khan for supporting the cause of Pakistani cricketers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) fiasco, the Shiv Sena on Sunday held a demonstration outside his home here, even as the actor and his colleague Aamir Khan were dubbed by the party as “2 Idiots.”
“Shah Rukh should go to Pakistan if he wants to speak in favour of Pakistani players,” said Shiv Sena leader and MLC Anil Parab, who led the party activists in protesting at ‘Mannat,’ Mr. Khan’s home in suburban Bandra. The police stepped up security ahead of the protests.
The Sainiks displayed a ‘ticket’ from Mumbai to Pakistan and demanded a ban on the actor’s upcoming movie My Name is Khan.
Supporting the protest, senior party leader Manohar Joshi said: “This is the issue of patriotism and Shah Rukh should not interfere in politics…He has been staying in Mumbai for years but has never spoken anything for Marathi.”
The protests came after suspected Shiv Sena activists went on the rampage on Friday tearing down posters of Mr. Khan in Thane district over his remarks that Pakistani cricketers should not have been ignored for the third edition of the IPL tournament.
After targeting him, the party also dragged in Aamir Khan, calling the duo “2 Idiots.”
“In real life, Aamir and Shah Rukh have been proved as ‘2 Idiots,’ as both are making stupid statements supporting the cause of Pakistani cricketers,” said a statement in the Sena’s Hindi mouthpiece Dopahar Ka Saamna.
Joint Police Commissioner (Law and Order) Himanshu Roy said several policemen have been deployed outside the actor’s bungalow to avoid any untoward incident after the police received information that Shiv Sena activists would hold protests there. Those violating the law would be dealt with severely, he said.
Mr. Khan had not asked for any security at his residence, Additional Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta said.
The actor also earned the ire of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia, who asked Hindus to boycott all of the actor’s movies.
“By favouring the inclusion of Pakistani cricketers, Shah Rukh has proved that he is a Muslim first and foremost and that he will continue to support Pakistan at the cost of our own national interests,” Mr. Togadia said in Allahabad.
“Hindus must not accept this blatantly unpatriotic stance of the actor…They must register their protest by boycotting all such movies in which the actor has played a role,” he added.
The Sena statement in Dopahar Ka Saamna said: “On the one hand, while SRK is openly displaying his love for Pakistani players, Aamir has even put nationalistic sentiments in his utterances on this issue…According to Aamir, if any cricketer is good, he would like to have him in his team, it makes no difference to him which country he belongs to.” — PTI
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