'Sholay' actor Satinder Kumar Khosla, popularly known as Birbal, dies at 84
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran actor Satinder Kumar Khosla, best known by his stage name Birbal, died on Tuesday evening due to cardiac arrest at a hospital here, his daughter Shalini said.
He was 84.
Birbal is perhaps most remembered for the role of a prisoner with a half moustache in 1975's "Sholay", headlined by Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan.
According to Shalini, her father was admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital for kidney-related issues last week.
"He had undergone brain surgery about a month ago. We had admitted him to the hospital three-four days ago due to kidney issues. He passed away at the hospital last evening due to cardiac arrest," Shalini told PTI.
Birbal became popular for his comic timing in 1960s and 1970s films such as "Boond Jo Ban Gayi Moti", "Upkar", "Roti Kapda Aur Makaan", "Kranti", "Naseeb", "Yaarana", "Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke" and "Anjaam". As a character actor, he has appeared in over 500 movies across languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Bhojpuri and Marathi.
The final rites will be performed today at around noon at the Versova crematorium.
Besides Shalini, Birbal is also survived by his wife and another child.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
