Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal has come to the defence of Bollywood actor Salman Khan [Images].

The RJD on Monday said Salman, whose alleged conversation with Aishwarya Rai [Images] four years ago where he brags about his underworld links was released recently, was being harassed and dubbed anti-national by vested interest just because he is a Muslim.

The RJD national spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari told rediff.com: "It is simple to dub a Muslim anti-national and accuse him of being hand in glove with the underworld to tarnish his image and defame him."

Tiwari said that the evidence against Salman is a four-year-old audiotape, the contents of which are more like a drunken person's empty boasts.

"Even if it is proved to be Salman's voice, he deserves to be punished, but certainly it is not a case of sedition," said Tiwari.

Tiwari said the large-scale protests engineered against Salman and his just-released Hindi film is a planned move to vitiate communal harmony.