Sena blinks, will not oppose Khan

My Name Is Khan, produced by Dharma Productions with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as lead actors, will in all probability hit theatre screens across Mumbai on February 12. The Shiv Sena, which had taken umbrage on Khan’s observation that Pakistani cricketers shouldn’t have been ignored for the Indian Premier League, softened its stand today and said it will not oppose the screening of the film. Mumbai is the largest grosser for films in the country.

“Let Shah Rukh release the film with the blessings of the Italian woman (Sonia Gandhi) and Yuvraj (prince, Rahul Gandhi) without any protection, and let it run in any theatre anywhere in the country. Sena will not oppose it,” Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Samna.

The Shiv Sena had earlier demanded an apology from Khan to end the agitation against his film. Khan, in turn, said he saw no reason to apologise. The superstar, who returned to Mumbai from Berlin today in a British Airways flight, held his ground. “I haven’t said anything wrong or dangerous to anyone. I’ve been misunderstood. Nobody told us not to buy Pakistani players,” he said. But Khan ruled out meeting Thackeray on his own to sort out the controversy. If invited, he said he would go to Matoshree, Thackeray’s home in the city.

This happened a day after Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi visited Mumbai, in spite of the Shiv Sena’s threat. He travelled in a local train, mixed freely with the crowds and even withdrew money from an ATM.

But the ultra-right party, which has called for special treatment to Maharashtrians in Mumbai, continued to spew vitriol on Khan. “A Khan named Shah Rukh tells us to love Pakistan but nobody feels suffocated due to his treachery. Traitors, do whatever you want to do with the blessings of the Congress. Sena won’t stop you. Why should the heads of Shiv Sainiks bleed and they be jailed without any reason?” the Samna editorial said.