- A BJP leader called Shah Rukh Khan a "traitor" for buying Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman in IPL
- Sangeet Som condemned Khan for supporting a Bangladeshi player amid atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh
- Som warned that Bangladeshi players like Rahman would face trouble entering India during IPL season
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Uttar Pradesh has slammed actor Shah Rukh Khan after his Indian Premier League (IPL) team, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), bought a Bangladeshi player amid rising atrocities against Hindus and other minorities in the neighbouring country.
Sangeet Som, a former member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, called Khan a "traitor" for buying Bangladesh's fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman.
"On one hand, Hindus are being killed in Bangladesh, and on the other hand, cricketers are being bought in the IPL. The traitorous film actor Shah Rukh Khan has bought Bangladeshi cricketer Rahman for Rs 9 crore. Such traitors have no right to live in this country," Som said during a public event in Meerut.
"The people of this country have helped you to reach this position. If you get money, you get it from this country. But you have betrayed the country," he said.
The BJP leader also warned that players like Rahman, who was bought for Rs 9.2 crore during the IPL Players' Auction on December 16, will "not be able to step out of the airport" if they come to India. The IPL is reportedly scheduled to begin in March.
Spiritual guru Devkinandan Thakur also slammed Shah Rukh Khan for buying Rahman and told the KKR management to not play him on the team.
"Devotees of Sanatan and Hindus, who made the KKR owner a star, see that the owner, without considering that Hindus in Bangladesh are being killed and burnt alive and girls are being assaulted, still includes Bangladeshi players in his team in India," he said.
Leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh assembly Mata Prasad Pandey criticised Som and targeted the BJP.
Congress leader Surender Rajput also slammed the BJP and said it is a "traitor" party.
"They are attacking Shah Rukh Khan just because he is a Muslim," he told NDTV.
BJP ally and UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar also slammed Som, saying he keeps making such statements "to stay in the limelight".
The war of words comes amid frosty ties between India and Bangladesh.
The ties worsened after a Hindu man, Dipu Chandra Das, was lynched by a mob and his body set on fire over alleged blasphemy in Mymensingh last month.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
