He said talks with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray two days ago prompted the party to become aggressive and claim it would not allow Khan’s new film, “My Name is Khan”, to be released in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra.
"Thackeray is not a leader but a political terrorist," Dalwai said. The state’s home ministry is handled by the NCP, which is now under pressure to defuse the situation.
Khan, along with co-star Kajol and director Karan Johar, left this afternoon for Abu Dhabi for the film’s premiere.
Senior Sena leader and former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi said Sena workers would stone people who went to see the movie on Friday.
"The Sena will not withdraw its protest until Khan apologizes to Thackeray," Joshi said.
The situation in Mumbai is tense but under control. In the last 24 hours, the police have rounded up 2,000 Sena workers in Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra. Most of the arrests were preventive measures.
In Pune, the police arrested 40 Sena workers after they burnt the effigy of the actor and tore down his posters.
Despite police assurances of safety, theatres that had started taking advance bookings for the film on Tuesday closed its box offices on Wednesday after Sena workers started protesting.
The government will provide security for all cinemas in the state screening the film. Nearly 40,000 police officers will be on duty.
In a surprise move, Smita Thackeray daughter-in-law of Thackeray came out in support of Khan and the film.
"Nothing is wrong in protesting. But the protest of Sena is not acceptable. I support Khan and would like the film to be screened,” she said.
Writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar also pledged his support for Khan.
"The whole protest by the Sena is wrong. I have read what Khan has said, which has been twisted by the media. He stated that if there was an opportunity to hire Pakistani players, he would have taken Abdur Razzak, but Razzak was injured. But since there are some issues between India and Pakistan, taking the Pakistani players is not possible. It is the last part of his statement that has been ignored by the media," he said.
