Shah Rukh Khan is Pak agent, should go to Pakistan: VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi

Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi called actor Shah Rukh Khan a "Pakistani agent" on Tuesday -- a day after the actor came out in support of the writers who have returned their awards to protest against the killing of rationalists and the Dadri lynching, and said that there is 'extreme intolerance' in the country.

"Shah Rukh Khan is an agent of neighbouring country Pakistan as he reflects their (Pakistan's) ideology. Such a man should go to Pakistan," Sadhvi Prachi, who is known for her controversial remarks, told reporters.

Indian filmmaker Aparna Sen condemned Prachi's remark and appealed to sign a "joint letter to the President to protest against the curbing of freedom of speech".

"Can't believe Sadhvi's reaction to SRK on tv! They're ones who want to break the country apart! There should be legal action against her!" Sen tweeted.

Can't believe Sadhvi's reaction to SRK on tv! They're ones who want to break the country apart! There should be legal action against her!

— Aparna Sen (@senaparna) November 3, 2015

Earlier, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya called Shah Rukh Khan "Bharat virodhi" (anti-India). "Aisa lagta hai, woh rahte hain Hindustan mein, lekin unka aatma Pakistan mein hai (It seems he lives in India, but his soul is in Pakistan)," Vijayvargiya told The Indian Express.

Vijayvargiya further said that Khan seems to have teamed up with "international forces, including Pakistan" to "defame India and dampen Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development agenda". He added that "artistes like Shah Rukh should have stayed away from this".

However Vijayvargiya by the end of the day had retracted his statement and tweets and said that 'he did not mean to hurt anyone's sentiments'. 

मेरा उद्देश्य किसी को भी ठेस पहुँचाना कतई नहीं था। मैं अपना कल का ट्वीट वापिस लेता हूँ। 2/2

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) November 4, 2015

मेरा उद्देश्य किसी को भी ठेस पहुँचाना कतई नहीं था। मैं अपना कल का ट्वीट वापिस लेता हूँ। 2/2

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) November 4, 2015

Several writers, filmmakers, artists and scientists have come out in protest against the "rising intolerance" in the nation, either by returning their National Awards or by submitting online petition to the President and Prime Minister of India.

Their protest started after the murder of Kannada rationalist writer MM Kalburgi and the lynching of a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri over rumours that he ate beef. More people joined the protest as more incidents of intolerance began surfacing.

Last month, Shiv Sena workers attacked Observer Research Foundation head Sudheendra Kulkarni for not cancelling an event organised to launch former Pakistan Foreign Affairs Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book in Mumbai.