Fan Accounts Of Shah Rukh Khan Begin Deactivating After UP Police Direct Action Over Morphed Pictures Of Yogi Adityanath, Sadhvi Prachi

Police have begun taking cognizance of social media posts where a still from upcoming Bollywood film Pathaan is being morphed to insult Hindu monks and political leaders. 

The still in question is from the recently released song ‘Besharam Rang’, where actress Deepika Padukone is seen seducing Shah Rukh Khan, playing the titular character in the film. One of the scenes shows her wearing a saffron-coloured bikini while Khan holds her from behind.

The song, and particularly this still, has courted controversy with critics questioning the size and colour of Padukone’s dresses in the song. The song has been widely termed ‘obscene’.

Among those calling for a ban or revision of the film are Madhya Pradesh Ulema Board president Syed Anas Ali, a teachers’ body in Gujarat and some leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) including Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra and Member of Parliament Sadhvi Pragya.

To counter this criticism, the anonymous fan army of Khan on social media, identified by Khan’s photographs used as display pictures, has been posting morphed versions of this still, replacing Padukone’s face with Yogi Adityanath and Sadhvi Prachi, among others.

Yogi Adityanath is Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Mahant (head priest) of Gorakhnath Math in Gorakhpur, and is seen wearing a loose saffron garment at all times; so does Sadhvi Prachi, who too is an ascetic besides being a vocal member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. 

Another target of this morphing is Sanjeev Newar, who runs the popular Twitter account @GemsofBollywood that criticises Bollywood for promoting underage sex, obscenity, rape and molestation of women, and indulging in Islamic religious propaganda. 

Reacting to one of such posts, the official account of Meerut Police in Uttar Pradesh directed the cyber cell of Meerut to take action today (19 December).

The said accounts include @iamJames786 and @AzaarSRK_, and their posts are attached below. Both these accounts have Khan’s photograph as their display picture. The accounts had been deactivated by the time of publishing this report.  

This correspondent has earlier shown that Khan’s anonymous fans on social media are using the same still to signify sexual assault, and threatening rape of those who are criticising aspects of Khan’s career. These accounts, like those in the above cases, carry pictures of Khan as display image. 

One of the widely circulated memes shows Khan holding (Pathaan) ‘Boycott gang’ accompanied by a line saying ‘kamp kahe rahi ho’ (why are you trembling).

It is pertinent to mention here that Khan once told an interviewer that he was glad to know that the latter was “horribly trolled” on social media by Khan’s fans for picking up a story about his son Aryan Khan.

“If you mess with me, my fans will troll you,” said Khan, adding, “Mess with me again and I will get you completely destroyed on social media.”