Imran Khan’s ‘leave India’ notice: Lekha Washington, Kiran Rao, Saba Azad and others rally behind actor
New Delhi: Imran Khan’s girlfriend Lekha Washington, filmmaker Kiran Rao and actor-singer Saba Azad have reacted after the actor received a notice directing him to by October 28. The development comes days after Imran participated in a protest in Mumbai, where police also detained him, Lekha, and cousin Zayn Marie Khan.
Imran’s lawyer, , has confirmed that the actor intends to challenge the FRRO notice before the Bombay High Court. He will file the plea on Friday or Monday in the .
Imran Khan’s girlfriend Lekha reacts to ‘leave India’ notice
On Friday (October 16), Lekha Washington shared a photograph of herself and Imran sitting inside a police van following their detention. Without directly addressing the notice, she captioned the picture, “just 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 (love).”
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Zayn also shared a photograph of the trio embracing. Reacting to Lekha’s post, she wrote, “You are love” followed by red heart emojis.
Kiran Rao and Saba Azad react
Aamir Khan’s former wife Kiran Rao also weighed in on the development. Sharing a post about Imran’s notice on Instagram Stories, the filmmaker wrote, “Wah, now it’s Mumbai Police?”
In another post, Kiran wrote, “43 years old. 40 of those years in India. Studied here. Worked here. Succeeded here. Failed here. Loved here. Fought here.”
Saba Azad expressed her disapproval as well. She shared a post about the development and wrote, “What!? This is absolute BS.”
Imran Khan receives ‘leave India’ notice
Imran, who holds a US passport and an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, participated in a protest at Mumbai’s August Kranti Maidan on October 10. The demonstration, organised by the satirical political group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), sought the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Mumbai subsequently issued a notice on October 15 asking Imran to leave India by October 28. The action reportedly followed a complaint by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya regarding the actor’s participation in the protest.
A Mumbai Police official said, “The FRRO has taken the action, and a notice was served to the actor Imran Khan, who is [in India] on an OCI card. The actor, nephew of Bollywood star Aamir Khan stays in Khar and was served the notice.”
At the October 10 protest, Imran had explained his reason for being present, saying, “I don’t have demands. I am here as a citizen, as a person who lives in this city. I am here to see why freedom of movement is being restricted. Why are people’s voices being suppressed? That is why I am here.”
He further said, “I don’t have any right to demand anything from people. I am not a part of any organisation. I will stand as a representative.” After being detained, Imran shared a picture from the police vehicle and wrote, “Apparently I’m going for a drive.”
Lekha had also posted a video from the police vehicle, saying, “Folks, we have been detained. We are all in a cop car. I am going to send the pin. Can you please follow that? I have no idea where we are going. Let’s hope for the best.”