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Amid the ongoing controversy involving Bollywood superstar Salman Khan and gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, an old video of actor Vivek Oberoi praising the Bishnoi community has resurfaced on social media. The video is from an event in Dubai in February last year. (Also Read – Ram Gopal Varma notes Lawrence Bishnoi was only 5 during Salman Khan’s blackbuck incident: ‘Animal love at its peak’)
What Vivek had said
In the resurfaced video now doing the rounds on social media, Vivek can be heard saying in Hindi, “Try looking up the Bishnoi community on Google. You won’t find a scene like that across the world. In every household, including mine, we feed cow’s milk to kids. There’s only one community in the whole world – the Bishnoi community – where if a fawn’s mother dies, the Bishnoi mothers take it in their laps and feed them milk like they feed their kids. You won’t find this anywhere else in the world.”
People on social media can see the irony of it. “Dushman Ka Dushman Lawrence Ka Dost (An enemy of his enemy is Lawrence’s friend),” wrote a person. “He’s taking his revenge,” wrote another. A person comment, “He’s adding fuel to the fire.”
About Salman-Vivek equation
The video is gaining traction due to Vivek’s own, not very friendly connect with Salman Khan. During a press conference in 2003, Vivek had accused Salman of threatening him because of his relationship with Aishwarya Rai, who had a messy breakup with Salman.
In 2023, Vivek Oberoi spoke about it during an interview with Hindustan Times about the lobbying and bullying he faced, 20 years after his infamous press conference. He said, “In hindsight, I went through a lot of stuff that was unnecessary. A lot of lobbies, a lot of repressive stories.”
About the ongoing controversy
Lawrence Bishnoi’s deep resentment against Salman even while in prison continues to make headlines, especially after the gunning down of former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique, known to be close to the Bollywood actor, by three assailants in Mumbai last week.
The Mumbai Police suspects Siddique was killed at the behest of Bishnoi after a purported Facebook post surfaced claiming “Jo Salman Khan aur Dawood gang ki help karega apna hisab-kitab laga ke rakhna (whoever helps Salman Khan and the Dawood Ibrahim gang, keep your accounts in order).” The comments were posted by one Shubuu Lonkar, whom the police suspect to be Bishnoi gang aide Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar.
Lawrence’s beef with Salman dates back to 1998, when the actor’s infamous blackbuck poaching case took place during the filming of Hum Saath-Saath Hain in Rajasthan, irking the Bishnoi community which revers the animal. Vivek has also had a public feud with Salman. In 2003, he claimed in a press conference that Salman had threatened him.
On the work front, Vivek was last seen in Rohit Shetty’s cop procedural show Indian Police Force on Prime Video India earlier this year. Meanwhile, Salman is busy shooting for reality show Bigg Boss 18 and his next film, Sikandar.
