Salman Khan’s show in Nepal opposed by Maoist faction

A Maoist party in Nepal has demanded the cancellation of a musical show featuring Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to be held in Kathmandu on March 10, saying it amounts to “Indian cultural intervention”.

The cultural wing of the CPN- Maoist, a splinter faction of CPN-Maoist Center, expressed serious reservations over the show that will feature other Bollywood actors such as Sonakshi Sinha and Prabhudeva and called on all nationalist forces to unite to oppose the event.

The party, in a statement issued on Tuesday, described “Da-Bangg - The Tour” as an “expansion of Indian cultural intervention” on Nepali soil. It urged all nationalist and patriotic forces to stop “Western and Indian cultural interventions”.

“The function has the hidden objective to measure the sensitivity of the Nepalese people about their nationality. So we urge it to be cancelled immediately. We know he (Salman) is popular but any kind of cultural attack is not acceptable,” the statement said.

Nepal tayyar ho jao. The #DaBangg Tour is coming soon to you!#DabanggTheTourNepal #ODCEntertainment #SalmanKhan #Bollywood #Tundikhel #jaevents #sohailkhanentertainment @SohailKhan @thejaevents pic.twitter.com/hn5liuoLZx

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) February 17, 2018

The CPN- Maoist also attacked the sponsors of the show, most of them liquor brands. “In a way, the programme is also promoting liquor which is not acceptable to us. We are against all kinds of globalisation bids,” the statement said.

Salman Khan and the other stars are expected to perform during the show, which will be held at Tundhikel in the heart of Kathmandu. Some top Nepalese artists and 110 other singers and dancers from Bollywood are also expected to be part of the show.

Organisers are expecting an audience of 30,000 for the show, whose tickets are priced from 3,000 to 30,000 Nepali rupees. Sohail Khan Production is bringing Salman Khan to Kathmandu and reports have suggested the cost of mounting the show is 50 million Nepali rupees.

During his stay in Kathmandu, Salman Khan is expected to go to Chandragiri Hills on the outskirts of Kathmandu via cable car and then take a flight to Mount Everest.

The star, who last visited Nepal in 1994, has tweeted about the show in recent days, saying: “Nepal tayyar ho jao. The #DaBangg Tour is coming soon to you!”

Nepal ab aap ki baari swag se swagat nahi karoge hamara #DabanggTheTourNepal #ODCEntertainment #Bollywood #Tundikhel #jaevents @thejaevents #sohailkhanentertainment @SohailKhan pic.twitter.com/R5U9i0yu33

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) February 7, 2018

The CPN- Maoist also opposed the decision to hold the show at the Nepal Army Pavilion in Tundhikhel, one of the largest open spaces in Kathmandu.

“It is not acceptable for us to have a function of foreigners at the Nepal Army Pavilion.  We challenge the Nepal Army to prove the logic behind providing space to a foreign actor when it does not allow Nepali political parties to hold mass meetings in the same pavilion,” it said.

If any official agency tries to conduct the function forcefully, it will be held responsible for any untoward incidents, the party said. It urged the agencies not to extend any support to the function.