Maharashtra Minority Commission Chairman demands removal of Bangladeshi player from KKR squad

Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], January 1 (ANI): Maharashtra Minority Commission Chairman Pyare Khan has called for decisive action following spiritual leader Devkinandan Thakur's recent remarks about the inclusion of Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman in the squad of Shah Rukh Khan's co-owned Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kolkata Knight Riders amid the increased violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.
Speaking to ANI, Khan emphasised that a nation's success is linked to the protection of its minority communities.
"The country where minorities are not safe can never succeed. I want to tell Shah Rukh Khan that if people from our country are facing such injustice in another country, we should ban those players so that a message can be sent."
He further announced his intention to escalate the matter to the Union government formally. Khan is set to write a letter to the Minority Affairs Minister, Kiren Rijiju, urging him to utilise diplomatic channels to ensure the safety and security of minority groups facing persecution or unfair treatment in Bangladesh.
"I am going to write a letter to minority minister Kiren Rijiju and tell him to ensure the safety of the minorities there", he said.
Spritual leader Devkinandan Thakur on Thursday criticised KKR management for including a Bangladeshi player in the squad, urging them to remove the cricketer and invest the signing amount in the welfare of Hindu children.
"The management of KKR, their boss, should remove that cricketer (Mustafizur Rahman). Rs 9.2 crore that they are giving to that cricketer, that money should be given as an apology to the relatives of the Hindu children if they are in India, so that at least they can know that their feelings are with the Hindus," said Devkinandan Thakur.
This comes after targeted attacks on Hindu minorities have been reported in Bangladesh since mid-December 2025. Last month, two incidents of Hindu youth being lynched were also reported in Bangladesh. Dipu Chandra Das, a worker in a garment factory in Bangladesh's Mymensingh district, was beaten to death by a mob over alleged blasphemy charges, had his body hanged and set on fire on December 18, 2025.
Meanwhile, another Hindu youth identified as Amrit Mondal was lynched at Hosendanga village of Kalimohor union in Rajbari's Pangsha sub-district over an extortion allegation.
The incident sparked widespread outrage and condemnation among political leaders, religious organisations and minority groups in Bangladesh and India.
On December 31, another Hindu man in Bangladesh was allegedly attacked by a mob of miscreants, who seriously injured him and then set him on fire in Shariatpur's Damudya region of the country.
According to local newspaper Prothom Alo in Dhaka, the incident took place on New Year's Eve on Wednesday at around 9:30 pm (local time), when the miscreants attacked the businessman, identified as 50-year-old Khokon Chandra Das, seriously injured him, poured petrol on his body and set him on fire near the Keurbhanga Bazar in Koneshwar Union of Damudya. He was later transferred to Dhaka for advanced treatment, Prothom Alo reported. (ANI)