In a volte face, Shiv Sena said today it will not oppose the screening of Shah Rukh Khan's 'My name is Khan' in the Maharashtra or elsewhere. However, it stepped up its vitriolic attack on the actor, branding him a "traitor' for his comments on Pakistani cricketers.

"Let Shah Rukh release the film with the blessings of the Italian woman (Sonia Gandhi) and Yuvraj (Rahul Gandhi) without any protection and let it run in any theatre anywhere in the country. Sena will not oppose it," Sena chief Bal Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

The Sena had earlier threatened to stall the release of the film in the metropolis where posters of the movie were pulled down and theatre owners warned against its screening. The film is scheduled to be released on February 12.

"A Khan named Shah Rukh tells us to love Pakistan but nobody feels suffocated due to his treachery," he said.

Meanwhile, after taking on the Shiv Sena on its home turf for "Mumbai for Marathis" campaign, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said the Sainiks should be opposed by mobilising people and not by violence.

Taking potshots at the Sena protest, he said there were 15 to 20 Shiv Sena workers with black flags when he boarded the suburban trains in Mumbai yesterday but there were thousands of people to support him.

"This is how we should oppose them. We should oppose them not by violence but by mobilising people," he told Kerala's student leaders during a brief visit to the state on Saturday.