Rehman Malik requests India to provide security to Shah Rukh Khan
Islamabad: Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has created another controversy when he requested the Indian Government to provide security to Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.
Talking to reporters at a reception organised by Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal to mark Republic Day, Malik said that Shah Rukh was born Indian and he would like to remain the same.
Malik said: "He (Shah Rukh) is born Indian and he would like to remain Indian, but I will request the government of India (to) please provide him security. I would like to request all Indian brothers and sisters and all those who are talking in a negative way about Shah Rukh, they should know he is a movie star.
"I am sure all those who are talking against him or are trying to threaten him, they will withdraw their threat with this hope that the stars are loved, the stars provide love and they are like a symbol of unity."
Malik further said that extremism is growing around the world. "Let's get together and fight against this extremism and terrorism because we are working for betterment and peace in Pakistan and India," he added.
The Interior Minister said it is in the interest of both the countries, India and Pakistan that the peace process should be continued and all the issues should be resolved through negotiations.
Malik said dialogue process is the only way forward to improve the bilateral relations of Pakistan and India.
He also hoped that the visa agreement signed between the two countries would be implemented in letter and spirit.
Earlier, Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and founder of terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, had invited Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to Pakistan if he felt insecure in India.
“If Shah Rukh Khan does not feel safe in India, he can come to Pakistan. I will welcome him. I will help him with his stay here,” Saeed said in an interview with a Pakistani television channel.
“Shah Rukh will be respected in Pakistan. If he feels insecure our doors are open,” he added.
The JuD chief’s invitation comes in response to Shah Rukh Khan’s recent statements about life as a Muslim in India.
In an Indian magazine, Shah Rukh Khan had said, “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.
“There have been occasions when I have been accused of bearing allegiance to our neighbouring nation rather than my own country — this even though I am an Indian, whose father fought for the freedom of India. Rallies were held where leaders have exhorted me to leave and return to what they refer to my original homeland.”
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