Salman's 26/11 comments controversy

His claims about the Mumbai terror attack trigger an uproar

Salman Khan has triggered a controversy by claiming that "too much hype" was created around the 26/11 attack as "elite people were targetted" and that the Pakistani government was not behind it.

In an interview to a Pakistani channel, Salman said: "Too much hype has been created around the 26/11 attacks because elite people were targetted. Attacks have happened in trains and small towns too, but no one talked about it so much."

"Everybody took this up because the Taj and Oberoi hotels were involved. The attacks happened because our security failed," he added.

"Everybody knows that the Pakistani government was not behind it and it was a terrorist attack. Our security had failed. We have had lot of attacks earlier, and all of them were not from Pakistan. They were from within also."

His comments have drawn strong reactions. Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told a news channel: "Salman's comments are illogical and an actor shouldn't have commented on terror attacks in this manner."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded an apology from Salman for his "unwarranted comments".

"We strongly condemn Salman Khan's unwarranted and irresponsible comments and that too to a Pakistani channel. How can he say only the elite were targeted? Is he not aware of the common people killed at the railway station and also the security forces? Moreover he has no right to give the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and the Pakistani government a clean chit... He should immediately apologise," BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said.

After triggering an uproar with his comments, Salman has decided to record all his interviews in the future to avoid controversies.

He wrote on his Twitter page: "Every human life has equal value and any act of terror, anywhere in the world is unpardonable. Be it 9/11 or 26/11."

"Next time mein apnne sub interview khud bhi record karoonga, kya bolte ho? Takeh yeh sub controversies nahi ho (from now on I will record all my interviews so that such controversies don't happen)," he added.

The Nov 26-29, 2008 attack left 166 people dead as 10 terrorists who sailed in from Karachi let loose coordinated shooting and bombing attacks largely across South Mumbai.