Salman calls for peace; Sena says he crossed boundaries

At a time of tension between India and Pakistan in the wake of the militancy in the Kashmir Valley, Bollywood actor Salman Khan and his brother Sohail Khan have come under fire for having batted for peace with the neighbour.

“People who order war should be asked to go on war themselves. Take this gun and go to war… and it will get over in a day. They will tremble and shake and they will eventually take the route of dialogues and discussions,” Salman said.

“You ask anyone whether the war is good or bad. Everyone will say it is a bad decision. It’s a negative emotion. But it happens a lot, nobody knows why. Things can only be solved by sitting across a table,” said Sohail.

The Khan brothers were speaking at a promotional event ahead of the Eid release of the Kabir Khan-directed Tubelight, which is set against the backdrop of the 1962 India-China war.

When a TV channel sought the reaction of their father and writer Salim Khan, he said, “First tell me one thing. Do you want a war? First answer that!”.

There was mixed reaction to Salman’s statement after it went viral on social media.

“Bravo! #SalmanKhan bats for #IndoPak peace dialogue, says war is no solution! Other Indian celebs, Show some courage,” peace activist Sudheendra Kulkarni tweeted.

However, the Shiv Sena hit out at the actor saying he had “crossed his boundaries”.

“The way he has said this is really objectionable. Who doesn’t want peace? Why does he always cross his boundaries?” Sena MP Arvind Sawant said.

This is not the first time that Salman has spoken on Indo-Pak relations. After the Uri attack, when Bollywood banned Pakistani artistes and technicians, he had said artistes are not terrorists. “They (Pakistani actors) are artistes, not terrorists. It is the government who gives them permits and visas,” he had said.