Salman Khan breaks silence on Saifai Mahotsav, says idea was to help people

Zee Media Bureau/ Aparna Mudi

New Delhi: Coming under fire for performing at the Safai Mahotsav organised by the Uttar Pradesh governement even as children were dying of cold and disease in Muzaffarnagar relief camps, Salman Khan broke his silence on Thursday on the controversy. The star wrote on his Facebook page that his performances are a opportunity that to help people. He wrote: “Whenever I visit a place for a performance or a promotion, I see it as an opportunity to help the locals in the areas of healthcare or education. In Nagpur, on Sunday, Being Human pledged to fund 100 paediatric cardiac cases in Maharashtra State. And in Etawah, Being Human, on behalf of all artists who performed yesterday, has committed to fund 200 paediatric heart surgeries in UP (there is already a wait list of 81 children we have received who are being moved to Fortis Hospital Gurgaon and their surgeries will get done by month end and Being Human is in touch with local NGOs and hospitals for their lists also). We have also contributed Rs 25 lakh to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College & Hospital for the purchase of an Echo Machine, Pediatric & neo natal ventilator and a portable X-ray machine for their paediatric cardiac ICU.” Madhuri Dixit had already posted about the donations on the popular social networking site, Twitter. However, the information that was posted on Facebook by Khan has made many of his fans happy as was evident by the 20,000 plus comments on this post. Salman Khan`s philanthropic enterprise `Being Human` is indulges in charity work aimed to help people in different parts of the country. The Saifai fest that is held at Mulayam Singh`s stronghold Etawah saw many Bollywood stars perform for the annual event.