NEW DELHI: Hindu religious leaders and BJP figures have launched sharp attacks on Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan over his IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) selecting Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman, while the Congress has stepped in to defend the actor, calling the remarks against him an attack on India’s pluralism.The first public criticism came from Hindu spiritual leader Devkinandan Thakur, who questioned KKR’s decision in the backdrop of reported violence against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. Speaking to ANI, Thakur said the KKR management should remove the Bangladeshi player. He demanded that the money paid to the cricketer be given to families of Hindu victims as an apology.
“The management of KKR, their boss, should remove that cricketer (Mustafizur Rahman). Rs 9.2 crore that they are giving to that cricketer, that money should be given as an apology to the relatives of the Hindu children if they are in India, so that at least they can know that their feelings are with the Hindus,” Thakur said.Spiritual leader Jagadguru Swami Rambhadracharya went on to questioned Khan’s character and called hhim a traitor.“He (Shah Rukh Khan) is not a hero. Shah Rukh Khan does not have a character. His actions have been those of a traitor,” Rambhadracharya said.Soon after, BJP leader Sangeet Som called Shah Rukh Khan a “traitor” and accused him of investing money in a player from a country he claimed was “working against India”. Som said Mustafizur Rahman would not be allowed to play in the IPL.“The way Hindus are being persecuted in Bangladesh, women and girls are being raped, their homes are being burned, and anti-India slogans are being chanted there. Despite all this, traitors like Shah Rukh Khan, I’m calling him a traitor because everything he has is given by India, given by the people of India, but where do they invest this money? They invest it in players from a country that is working against India. I want to tell people like Shah Rukh Khan that they will not succeed. At any cost, they will not be able to get Mustafizur Rahman to play here. Rahman won’t be able to step outside the airport,” Som told ANI.The response from Congress followed soon after. MP Manickam Tagore condemned the remarks against Khan, calling them an attack on India’s pluralism. In a post on X, Tagore said hatred could not define nationalism and criticised the RSS for spreading division.“Calling Superstar Shah Rukh Khan a ‘traitor’ is an attack on India’s pluralism. Hate cannot define nationalism. RSS must stop poisoning society.”
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The attacks come amid a series of violent incidents targeting members of the Hindu community in Bangladesh. Last month, two Hindu youths were lynched in separate incidents. Dipu Chandra Das, a garment factory worker in Mymensingh district, was beaten to death over alleged blasphemy charges on December 18, after which his body was reportedly hanged and set on fire.
