RSS mag sensationalises “communal divide”

By Amitabh Parashar
NEW DELHI: Hrithik Roshan has a new fan, Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) which has come to his support in the Pepsi-Coke adwar. The RSS mouthpiece, Panch Janya in its June 25 cover story Katuta Ke Beej (Seeds Of Bitterness) has described the Pepsi ad (with a Hrithik lookalike) as an “ugly attempt” to destroy the actor’s popularity, which is challenging the ‘Khanwood’ citadel. The weekly writes that the ‘Battle of Khanwood’ could well turn out to be the ‘third war of Independence’. It also talks about the shadow of Dawood Ibrahim which looms large on Bollywood and his “Muslim proteges”’ (allegedly, the four Khans) and Hrithik Roshan, the Hindu hero who has snatched sleep away from the ‘Khanwood’ mafia.

The article also writes about the ‘international conspiracy’ to block Hindu actors and their films, turn them into box office disasters and throw them into the streets of Mumbai. “That is why,” the Panch Janya article concludes, “there are hosts of films starring Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan or Saif Ali Khan and it does not matter if these films succeed or flop.”
The article further observes ‘Hindu producers and directors’ are being hounded by the Dubai underworld to choose one of the Khans as heros. The cover story finds fault with the Khans for not playing in the recent charity match for drought relief, because Hrithik Roshan was the team’s captain.