People Like Shah Rukh Khan Are Traitors: BJP Leader on KKR Selecting Bangladeshi Player

Haridwar: Amid the mounting chaos over a Bangladeshi cricket player being selected for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sangeet Som called Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan "a traitor" and accused him of investing money in players "from a country working against India".

He noted the repeated violence incidents against religious minorities in Bangladesh. He added that Mustafizur Rahman (the player) would not be able to play in the IPL tournament.

"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.

"People like Shah Rukh Khan are traitors; they eat in India and sing praises of Pakistan and Bangladesh," he added.

Levelling similar accusations, Hindu spiritual leader Jagadguru Swami Rambhadracharya labelled Shah Rukh Khan's actions traitorous. "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.

Spiritual leader Devkinandan Thakur said that Hindus in Bangladesh were facing extreme atrocities. "In Bangladesh, Hindus are being brutally murdered, their homes are being burned, and their sisters and daughters are being raped. After witnessing such brutal killings, how can someone be so heartless, especially someone who calls himself the owner of a team? How can he be so cruel as to include a cricketer from that very country in his team?" Thakur said.

"This country made you a hero, a superstar, and gave you so much power that you own a cricket team. What were you before? You worked in a TV serial, earning Rs 500-1000 a day," he added.

Thakur demanded that the management "remove that cricketer" and called for the player's reported remuneration to be redirected to families suffering in the neighbouring countries."As a gesture of apology and remorse, Rs 9.2 crore, which is being given to that cricketer, should be given to the families of the Hindu children who are being killed there," he said.