SDPI condemns outburst against Shah Rukh Khan

By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,

Bhopal: The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has castigated Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray for ridiculing the superstars of Indian cinema namely Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan for supporting inclusion of Pakistani cricketers over in the IPL.

The SDPI General Secretary A. Sayeed in a statement said that it seems the senior Thackeray has lost balance of mind in censuring the two big Bollywood stars and calling them the "two idiots". Thackeray went on to suggest sarcastically that Shah Rukh Khan, the Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner, deserved Nishaan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award of the neighbouring country.

The outrageous comment in Shiv Sena's mouthpiece "Saamna" about Shah Rukh Khan is most reprehensible and should be condemned by all right thinking people of the country, the statement stated.

It should be noted that in games and sports it is the excellence in performance that counts and not the nationality. If Pakistani cricketers are good and measure up to the standard of the IPL tournament then there is no harm in picking them and cannot be kept out due to their nationality.

Meanwhile, the statement said that the temerity of Bal Thackeray to hold the society at ransom in the name of "Mumbai for Mumbaikars" with none in the whole political spectrum to challenge his whimsical stand has emboldened him and his cronies manifolds. The Shiv Sena and its off-shoot MNS have held complete sway in Mumbai calling the shots as its activists indulge in not only brow-beating but physically assaulting non-Maharashtrians while the district and police administration look the other way umpteen times whenever the issue boils over and spills on to the streets of the metropolis.

However, now a good development for the health of the nation is taking shape over the "Mumbai for Mumbaikars" issue. The Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh, (RSS), and its political progeny Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP), have openly come together against Shiv Sena to isolate it on the issue with the former declaring Mumbai is for all Indians irrespective of linguistic, caste, creed or religious diversity. The ruling Congress at the Centre and in Maharashtra also seem to have fallen in line to confront Shiv Sena over the issue, the statement pointed out.

The SDPI is of the firm belief that it's wrong to discriminate people on the basis of caste, religion, language or regionalism. Every Indian has the right to reside and work in any part of the country including Mumbai. It hopes that better counsel will prevail and the initiative taken by the RSS-BJP combine over the issue is brought to its logical end to provide relief to one and all in Mumbai and the country at large, the statement added.