New Delhi: The BJP, however, strongly disapproved of its leaders’ comments, saying they were “uncalled for” and did not reflect in any way the core beliefs of the party or of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Minority affairs minister Najma Heptullah advised Shah Rukh to speak about tolerance and integrity in the country as people followed his words, instead of complaining and said her party members would not have criticised him had he not made such remarks in the first place.
Shah Rukh had Monday come out strongly against what he called “extreme intolerance” in the country, saying that intolerance towards creativity and religion would hurt India. Reacting to this, Mr Vijayvargiya had said Khan’s “soul” was in Pakistan though he lived in India and had painted him as an “anti-nationalist”.
As Mr Vijayvargiya retracted his remarks, on Wednesday, BJP Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath attacked Khan, saying, “Shah Rukh Khan should remember that if a huge mass in society would boycott his films, he will also have to wander on the streets like a normal Muslim... I am saying these people are speaking in a ‘terrorist’ language. I think there is no difference between the language of Shah Rukh Khan and Hafiz Saeed... We welcome that people go there (Pakistan), at least people who defame India will understand their own originality”.
He further said that those who were trying to malign the image of the nation as tolerant and liberal as India ... “their act was nothing less than treason”. Interestingly, the Shiv Sena, a BJP ally, which had on earlier occasions attacked Khan over his comments on Pakistani crickers in IPL, came out in his support, saying the actor shouldn’t be targeted just because he’s a Muslim and that the minority community in India was “tolerant”.
The Sena, however, advised Khan not to get involved in such controversies. “This country is tolerant and Muslims are tolerant as well. Shah Rukh Khan should not be targeted only because he is a Muslim,” Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said. Actor Anupam Kher, who criticised filmmakers returning awards to protest against “rising intolerance”, also came out in Khan’s support. “Some members of the BJP really need to control their tongue and stop talking rubbish about Shah Rukh Khan. He is a national icon and we are proud of him,” Kher tweeted.
Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said the government was open to a debate on the issue of intolerance as he disapproved of the incendiary remarks by against Shah Rukh and Karnataka CM S. Siddaramaiah. Insisting that the NDA government was committed to protect Constitution, Ms Heptullah said the episode diverting attention from the development work.
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