Film Stars Shun the Thackerays
Patna: March 7, 2008
 Bollywood film stars including Salman Khan, Suniel Shetty, and Nana Patekar on Friday back-pedaled from their earlier support for Raj Thackeray's chase-north-Indians-out-of-Maharashtra campaign saying they were misunderstood and misquoted in the media.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader who is now grouped with the likes of Osama bin Laden, Hitler, Aurangzeb, and the Lanka demon king Ravan, found himself without much support from the film industry when the stars, including Bihar's very own Shatrughan Sinha scrambled to clarify their stands on Thackeray saying they never supported his anti-north Indian stand but were speaking out on the gag order that was imposed on him by the court.
 Besides Khan, Shetty, Patekar, and Sinha, others who claimed the media misquoted them included Bihar's Manoj Tiwari and Manoj Bajpai who were quoted by Raj's equally vile uncle and the self-proclaimed godfather of Mumbai Bal Thackeray who, in his editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamna', claimed these actors supported him in keeping Maharashtra clean by keeping Biharis out of Maharashtra.
"I am completely against regionalism and my statement were twisted and wrongly presented in the 'Saamna'," said Manoj Bajpai, the star of Satya, Shool, and Pinjar said.
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and the star of yesteryears Shatrughan Sinha, after facing the ire of people in Bihar who, on Friday, burnt his effigy for supporting the Thackerays, said he agreed with the senior Thackeray on his feeling about politicians from Bihar but opposed the current anti-Bihari sentiments promoted by 'some people in Maharashtra'.
Patekar and Khan, who ignited similar protests in Bihar after coming out in support of Raj Thackeray, denied ever having supported his anti-north Indian crusade.
"My whole family comes from various parts of the country so how can I lend my support to a movement that denies and detests the existence of people from other states in Maharashtra?" Salman Khan said.
|
