Shah Rukh Khan denies he had anything to do with release of 8 Indian Navy veterans in Qatar

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has "unequivocally" denied claims of his involvement in securing the release of eight Indian Navy veterans in Qatar.

The officers were detained by the country on espionage charges in August 2022 and sentenced to death in October last year.

The announcement of their return came earlier on Monday, as the Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement appreciating “the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals”.

A senior leader from prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party wrote on Twitter/X that Khan intervened in the matter to secure the release.

“Modi should take Cinema star Sharuk Khan to Qatar with him since after MEA and NSA had failed to persuade the Sheikhs of Qatar, Modi pleaded with Khan to intervene , and thus got an expensive settlement from the Qatar Sheikhs to free our Naval officers (sic),” wrote Subramanian Swamy.

Khan’s manager Pooja Dadlani issued a statement on the actor’s behalf and said: “Regarding the reports concerning Shah Rukh Khan’s purported role in the release of India’s naval officers from Qatar, the office of Mr Shah Rukh Khan says that any such assertions of his involvement are unfounded, emphasising the execution of this successful resolution solely rests with the Indian government officials and unequivocally denies Mr Khan’s participation in this matter.”

"Additionally, all matters involving diplomacy and statecraft are best executed by our very able leaders. Mr Khan, like many other Indians is happy that the naval officers are home safe and wishes them all the best," the statement added.

Khan broke his four year hiatus in 2023 with his movie “Pathaan” that earned $100m worldwide, followed by “Jawan” and “Dunki”.

He recently went to Qatar’s capital, Doha ,to attend the AFC final as a special guest of honour. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi would be heading to Qatar on Wednesday after conclusion of his trip to UAE. He is expected to meet Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, along with other senior officials.

After being released, one of the recently released Navy veterans thanked the Indian prime minister for his “personal intervention”.

"We waited for almost 18 months to be back in India. We are extremely grateful to the PM. It wouldn’t have been possible without his personal intervention and his equation with Qatar. We are grateful to the Government of India from the bottom of our hearts for every effort that has been made and this day won’t have been possible without those efforts," he said on Monday.

Despite his denial, the fanbase of the hugely popular star didn’t seem convinced. On X a hashtage with his name along with an emoji denoting his signature pose with arms outstretched started trending. An X user shared an old clip of the actor jokingly saying he wakes up every morning apprehensive of seeing his name being dragged into controversies.

Another social media user joked that “Bollywood often denies rumours that turn out to be true”.

While another tongue-in-cheek comment said it was “fine” to take Khan’s support and that is “how diplomacy works”.