Hindustan Times (Bathinda)

Take tough action against Amarnath Yatra attackers: Shah Rukh Khan

- HT Correspond­ent letterschd@hindustant­imes.com

LUDHIANA Condemning the killing of seven Amarnath pilgrims in a terrorist attack, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has urged the government to take strict action against the perpetrato­rs of the “cowardly act”.

Speaking on the sidelines of a promotiona­l event for his movie ‘Jab Harry met Sejal’, Khan said, “The killing of Amarnath pilgrims is indeed a condemnabl­e act and I have already expressed my feelings by criticisin­g the cowardly act on social networking platform Twitter.”

He added, “It is a deeply painful incident and it is wrong on the part of certain people to think that such acts of terrorism will deter the faith of followers of a religion in God.”

He said, “Such acts of terrorism cannot prevail over goodness for long time. The government must act against the perpetrato­rs of the act and take strict action against them.”

However, Khan refused to comment on the incident wherein a man was thrashed for allegedly carrying beef by a fringe group in Nagpur on Wednesday.

‘ALWAYS SPECIAL TO VISIT PUNJAB’

Talking to the media, he said, “It is always special to visit Punjab. The culture and lifestyle of Punjab is so vibrant and colourful, whether it is sports, movies or music — everything that symbolises its cultural ethos.”

Regarding a touch of Punjabi culture in a lot of his movies, Khan said, “The Punjabi culture has always fascinated me and I love to play roles that have Punjabi touch. In music, Punjabi songs have a global appeal and are widely listened across European and Western countries.”

Popular Punjabi singers ‘Nooran sisters’, who have lent their voice to one of the songs in the ‘Jab Harry met Sejal’, marked their brief presence at the event.

Khan said, “After listening to Nooran sisters’ song ‘Patakha Guddi’ from the movie Highway, I was immensely impressed with their melodious voice and asked (director) Imtiaz to have them sing a song in the movie.” He termed the song by Nooran sisters as “the soul of the movie”.

Later, sporting a red and white striped turban, the Bollywood actor was escorted to the Jhande village, where he drove a tractor amid fields as part of promotion of the movie, which was partly shot in Punjab.

Punjabi culture has always fascinated me and I love to play roles that have a Punjabi touch. In music, Punjabi songs have a global appeal. SHAH RUKH KHAN, Bollywood actor

 ?? GURMINDER SINGH/HT ?? Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan riding a tractor during the promotion of his upcoming movie ’Jab Harry Met Sejal’ at Jhande village in Ludhiana on Thursday.
GURMINDER SINGH/HT Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan riding a tractor during the promotion of his upcoming movie ’Jab Harry Met Sejal’ at Jhande village in Ludhiana on Thursday.

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