Friendship not above state, country: Raj Thackeray on Salman row

Thane (Maha), Oct 3: Referring to his friendship with Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday said friendship was not above the state and country.

"After Salman's recent comments about Pakistani artistes, people felt that Raj Thackeray will not comment on the issue (as the two are friends). No one is a friend when it comes to state and nation," he said addressing a rally here.

Raj also advised Salman that the actor should have spoken with responsibility. On September 30, a row broke out over remarks by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, director Anurag Kashyap and Shyam Benegal that boycotting Pakistani artistes in Bollywood is no solution to terrorism.

Salman said artistes come to Bollywood with proper visa and work permit. The star's comments came in the wake of Indian Motion Picture Producers Association's resolution to ban Pakistani actors from the industry following the terror attack on an army camp in Uri.

Raj had slammed Salman for supporting Pakistani artistes, saying he was only concerned about his movies doing well in that country. Meanwhile, Raj also said every issue is being raised with an eye on elections. "But our party is different from others. We don't take up issues with eye on polls," he claimed.

PTI