Mukesh Khanna responds to people tagging Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal's wedding 'love jihad': 'Can’t a Hindu and Muslim marry?'

Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal got married last month, and their wedding created quite a buzz on social media. However, when Sonakshi shared the wedding photos, she faced negativity from certain people, with some even linking their marriage to 'love jihad.' Now, veteran actor Mukesh Khanna, who is famous for his role in Shaktimaan and Bhishma Pitama in BR Chopra's Mahabharat, has reacted to the controversy surrounding their wedding and said that the marriage should not be viewed through a Hindu-Muslim lens.
In an interview with The Filmy Charcha, Mukesh Khanna addressed the criticism by saying, "Don't view Sonakshi and Zaheer's marriage through a Hindu-Muslim lens. What Sonakshi did was not a sudden decision. They have been together for 6-7 years before getting married. People are calling this love jihad. Love jihad happens when a girl's marriage is forced."
Mukesh further commented, "Can’t a Hindu and Muslim marry? Many did so in our time and are happy. This wedding is a family matter for them." Shatrughan Sinha initially had said that he didn’t know about Sonakshi-Zaheer's marriage but later mentioned he would attend. To those making negative comments, Shatrughan has silenced the trolls saying 'Khamosh.'

A couple of days ago, Shatrughan expressed gratitude to his followers for their support with a heartfelt note, “Thanking everyone for their blessings, love & warm congratulatory messages. But most touched to have received extremely heartwarming affectionate wishes from most learned, intellectual par excellence the great #ArunShourie elder brother, statesman #YashwantSinha & of course the most deserving, Magsaysay Award winner #RavishKumar for the 'made for each other' couple #SonakshiSinha & #ZaheerIqbal. #SinhaParivar.”
Sonakshi Sinha’s brother Luv Sinha, who recently shared the reason behind not attending his sister’s wedding in Mumbai on social media, has now deleted the said post. Sharing a news article with his post, the actor wrote, “Why I chose not to attend. Running an online campaign against me on a false premise won’t change the fact that for me, my family will always come first." After deleting this tweet, Luv wrote, "The quote that is being incorrectly attributed to me is not my statement, and was written in an article by a senior journalist. The matter is now closed, and I will not be commenting on it any further.”

Sonakshi and Zaheer got married on June 23 in the presence of their loved ones at their residence in Mumbai. The civil wedding was followed by a wedding bash at Bastian which saw numerous Bollywood celebrities in attendance.