NEW DELHI: The government as well as the political class on Tuesday slammed Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik's unsolicited statement asking India to provide security to Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan, stating that India was fully capable of looking after the security of its citizens.
"We are quite capable of taking care of the security of our citizens....Pakistan need not worry about it," Union home secretary R K Singh told reporters here on Tuesday morning.
Malik had, while interacting with reporters at a reception hosted by the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal in Islamabad, said: "He (Shahrukh Khan) is born Indian and he would like to remain Indian, but I will request the government of India (to) please provide him security".
Malik was reacting to a first-person account by the actor in an Indian magazine focusing on his experiences as a Muslim in the post 9/11 world.
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said Malik would rather worry about the security of its own citizens, considering the fragile state of Pakistan's internal security.
"We all know what is going on in Pakistan. Pakistan has no right to say anything about any Indian. Even when Pakistan artistes come here, we provide them security. Muslims are safest in India," said Alvi.
Rebuffing Malik for his remark, the BJP said Pakistan must stay away from meddling in India's internal affairs.
Party spokesperson Shahnawaz Khan said India should send a stern message to Islamabad on the issue.
BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Pakistan should worry about the security of its own minorities. "We are a secular country," he said, in a snub to the Pakistani motor-mouth minister.
Incidentally, on Sunday, Jamaat-ud Dawa chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed had also asked Shahrukh Khan to move to Pakistan if he did not feel safe in India
Govt, political class slam Pak minister's safety 'worry' for SRK - The Times of India
