The workers of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), on Wednesday, forced a Pakistani artiste to leave a studio at Andheri.
Shakeel Siddiqui, a comedian, had reportedly gone to Mohan Studio to perform for Sony TV’s reality show Chinchpokali to China. While he was getting ready for the shoot, around 10 MNS workers barged into the studio and forced him to leave the place.
“We have warned Sony TV against airing the show,” said Amey Khopkar, president of Maharashtra Navnirman Chitrapat Karmachari Sena, MNS’ film wing. “We have asked Shakeel to leave India within 24 hours and he has promised us that he will take the first available flight to Pakistan.”
Another MNS official Sanad Mane threatened that the party would also stall telecast of channels which have reruns of shows by Pakistani performers.
When contacted, Jigna Shah, PRO for Sony TV, claimed that Shakeel was not part of the show. “He had participated in our earlier show Comedy Circus before the terror attacks. He has good rapport with our producer and his team. That is why he was there in the studio.”
However, Khopkar refuted her claim, saying that Shakeel was getting ready for the show when they barged into the studio.
Joint commissioner of police (law and order) KL Prasad asserted that action against the miscreants would be taken based on the complaint filed against them. However, an officer from Andheri police station said that no one had filed complaint in this matter.
Shah confirmed that Sony had not filed any complaint in the matter. “Why should we file a complaint? We do not have any connection with the incident,” she said. Producer of the show Vipul D Shah was not available for comment.
Last week, MNS had burnt CDs of Pakistani perforners and had forced stores to withdraw books by Pakistani authors.
