Modi critic says Shah Rukh Khan helped to free Indian navy veterans from Qatar; Internet reacts

SUBRAMANIAN Swamy is no stranger to controversies. He never hesitates to criticise prime minister Narendra Modi despite being a member of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On Tuesday (13), the veteran former parliamentarian slammed the prime minister over his upcoming visit to Qatar, a country which on Monday (12) released eight Indian navy veterans who were given punishment by a court in the Middle Eastern nation for alleged espionage.

In a post on X in replying to Modi's message prior to his departure for the UAE and Qatar on Tuesday, Swamy mocked him saying the former should take Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan to Qatar alleging that it was the latter who had helped him to convince the Qatari authorities to free the navy veterans and not the external affairs ministry or the national security advisor.

"Modi should take Cinema star Sharuk Khan to Qatar with him since after MEA and NSA had failed to persuade the Shiekhs of Qatar, Modi pleaded with Khan to intervene , and thus got an expensive settlement from the Qatar Shiekhs to free our Naval officers," Swamy, 84, said at a time when the entire country, including the former navy officials, were thanking the prime minister for getting them released. Experts called it a major success of the Modi government's Middle East policy.

Read: Modi in Qatar on Feb 14, announcement comes on day Doha freed 8 jailed Indians

Khan was recently in Doha

Khan was recently seen being greeted by Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. The 58-year-old actor was reportedly in Doha to attend the final of the AFC Asian Cup football tournament played between Qatar and Jordan as a special guest of honour.

Read: Modi invites Indian diaspora members to attend ‘Ahlan Modi’ in Abu Dhabi: ‘Do join’

Swamy responded to a post by Modi that said, "Over the next two days, I will be visiting UAE and Qatar to attend various programmes, which will deepen India's bilateral relations with these nations. My visit to UAE will be my seventh since assuming office, indicating the priority we attach to strong India-UAE friendship. I am eager to meet my brother, HH @MohamedBinZayed. I will have the honour of inaugurating the first Hindu Mandir in UAE. I will also address the Indian Community at a community programme in Abu Dhabi. I will also speak at the @WorldGovSummit and meet @HHShkMohd

in Dubai. I look forward to meeting HH Sheikh @TamimBinHamad, under whose leadership Qatar is witnessing immense growth."

The Indian PM will have an eventful visit as besides engaging with the Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi at an event called 'Ahlan Modi', he will speak at the World Government Summit in Dubai and inaugurate the BAPS Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi. He will also meet top leaders in the UAE besides heading for Qatar, a country that he had visited in 2016.

It may be mentioned here that the UAE president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was in the Indian state of Gujarat last month to be the chief guest at the ‘Vibrant Gujarat 2024’ event.

Netizens react to Swamy

Several social media users lashed out at Swamy over his post with one saying his attack against Modi was "sickening to the core". While some refused to believe him, there were others who said there was nothing wrong in using an actor as it showed the global reach of India's soft power.

Another said it didn't suit the stature of a national leader like him.

Here are some other reactions: