On Wednesday, January 25, a man in the Darang district of Assam bought 120 tickets for Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s latest film Pathaan. The man identified as Mofidul Islam was, however, detained for allegedly giving provocative statements about the film. The police detained Islam in order to maintain law and order.
A resident of the Dhula area in Darang, Mofidul Islam is a North-East Minorities Students’ Union (NEMSU) leader. Police informed that Mofidul Islam had challenged Bajrang Dal and other Hindu rights organizations that had opposed the release of the Pathaan film.
Prasanta Saikia, Superintendent of Police in Darang District, told IANS, “Islam purchased around 120 ‘Pathaan’ movie tickets. After that, he started saying offensive comments and challenging people, which could disturb communal harmony in the area, after this we detained him.”
SP Saikia added that a case has been registered against the NEMSU leader under section 107 of the Indian Penal Code. “Islam was later allowed to go as there were no serious charges against him, however, we are closely watching him,” SP Saikia said.
Islam was seen wearing the tickets like a garland around his neck. He was allowed to go by the police after a brief detention.
Another incident involved a youth who allegedly purchased 192 tickets for Khan’s movie “Pathaan.” The man has been identified as Farooq Khan, a local of Rangia’s Kendukona area.
Ahead of the film’s release actor Shah Rukh Khan had recently called Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and expressed concern over the protests, to which, Sarma assured law and order as the head of the state.
Backlash against Pathaan
Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer spy-action film by Yash Raj Films, Pathaan, released on January 25. The movie has already made headlines multiple times for several wrong reasons. First, the song Besharam Rang allegedly hurt religious sentiments as Deepika was seen wearing a saffron bikini while romanticising with SRK in the song. Later, the second song, ‘Jhoome Jo Pathaan’, stirred controversy as the song was reused version of music director Vishal-Shekhar’s old song. Furthermore, netizens have alleged that many scenes of the film were copied or inspired by Hollywood films.
