When Shah Rukh Khan Shared His Views On Being A Muslim In The Post-9/11 World, Igniting Controversy(Photo Credit: Instagram)
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Shah Rukh Khan has always remained in the limelight even though he doesn’t work on films for a long period of time. On many occasions, he makes headlines for wrong reasons, similarly, back in 2013, when SRK spoke about ‘Muslims in India,’ his statement created a stir as many thought he doesn’t feel safe in the country. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik along with Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed even offered him asylum in their country if he feels insecure.
The matter sparked when SRK’s article for a local magazine titled, ‘Being a Khan’ was published. In the published report, Happy New Year star shared his views on being a Muslim in the Post-9/11 world.
In the first-person account for Outlook Turning Points magazine, Shah Rukh Khan wrote, “I sometimes become the inadvertent object of political leaders who choose to make me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India. … Rallies have been held where leaders have exhorted me to leave my home and return to what they refer to as my ‘original homeland’”.
Reacting to this, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, “He (Shah Rukh Khan) is born Indian and he would like to remain Indian, but I will request the government of India to please provide him security and I would like to request all Indian brothers and sisters who are all talking against Shah Rukh that they should know he is a movie star, he is loved as a star by the people of Pakistan and he is loved by the people of India, then why to create some kind of hate, let’s bring love,”
Slamming Malik’s advice, India’s Home Secretary R.K. Singh said, “We are quite capable of looking after the security of our own citizens… let him (Malik) worry about the security of his own.” While Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “The Indian government is capable of protecting its citizens. They (Pakistan) should not meddle in our internal affairs. Our government is not answerable to Pakistan.”
He added, “Pakistan (leaders) should instead look into protecting the minorities in their own country. They should pay attention to their affairs. They should protect temples, which are being demolished by militant groups there.”
On the other hand, Hafiz Saeed, the co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba asked Shah Rukh Khan to move to Pakistan if he feels insecure in India, he also said that the superstar will “enjoy all the freedom that he wants in this country”. Saeed in an interview with Express TV, shared that, “Shah Rukh is welcome in Pakistan and he can live here for as long as he wants.”
When the matter escalated, SRK in a statement called the debate non-sense, talking to the media in a press conference, the actor said “I don’t even understand the basis of this controversy. Ironically, the article I wrote – yes it is written by me – was actually meant to reiterate that on some occasions my being an Indian Muslim film star is misused by bigots and narrow-minded people who have misplaced religious ideologies for very, very small gains. And ironically the same has happened through this article once again.”
Shah Rukh Khan further said, “The reason for this primarily is….I think some of the people have not even read it and are reacting to comments of people, who in turn have also not read it. So I implore you all to first read it. Second, if you read it, nowhere does the article state or imply directly or indirectly that I feel unsafe….troubled or disturbed in India.”
