Taking a jibe at Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray for criticising Sachin Tendulkar for his “Mumbai for all” remark, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said the cricketer has clean bowled Thackeray.
“Sachin has got Bal Thackeray out. Now, he ( Thackeray) may cry as much as he wants after the fall of the wicket but it is true that he has got out,” Khurshid said when asked on the controversy between Tendulkar and Thackeray.
“If you ask who do I like between Bal Thackeray and Sachin Tendulkar. My answer is, I like Sachin,” he added.
In an interaction with the media on completing 20 years in international cricket, Tendulkar had earlier said, “I am a Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that. But I am an Indian first. And Mumbai belongs to all Indians.”
Reacting sharply to it, Thackeray, in an editorial in Saamna, the Sena mouthpiece, said, “There was no need for him (Sachin) to take a cheeky single by making such remarks.”
He also alleged that Tendulkar “left the crease and moved to the pitch of politics by making these remarks, which have hurt Marathis.”
Keywords: Shiv Sena, Bal Thackeray, Sachin Tendulkar, Salman Khurshid
Comments:
By saying that Sachin has moved into the pitch of politics, Bal Thackeray has unwittingly admitted that it is all politics -- his talk of Marathi manoos.
With due respects to his age, what exactly does Mr.Thackeray think of himself? He claims that Tendulkar's remark hurt Marathis without even realising that he has been hurting millions of Indians himself! For long, the celebrities of Mumbai have remained silent spectators to the Sena fanaticism. Time has come for them to voice their opinions without fear and favour.Only then the people would come out vociferously.
Bal Thackeray just crossed the line here. All Sachin said was 'I am an Indian first' and this is the way it should be.
To be criticized for being an Indian in India is the worst incident this motherland can suffer. Why do they do like this? Please do not play cheap politics.
Even after 62 years of independence, we have no freedom to say that ';I am an Indian';. This is the state of politics in India.
Time has come for all of us to unitedly cope with the regionalism. We all have to support the comments of Sachin Tendulkar.
People like Bal Thackeray should be ignored.
The only rationale behind Mr. Thackeray's irrational, uncalled for, dim-witted observation seems to be his desire to get spotlight. Get noticed by insulting the man whom the whole world is celebrating. Heights of puerility!
This is a good development. By taking a stand in this Sachin has made India and Maharashtrians proud. Given the current murky political debate on this, it was a courageous thing to say and we should all applaud Sachin for this.
It is high time the State Government curbs the activities of the MNS and the Shiva Sena instead of trying to gain political mileage.
People like Bal Thackeray and Raj Thackeray should never be allowed to hold the country to ransom. They have the potential to divide the country.
Wake up people... Its not the case only with Maharashtra... If this is not stopped right here right now.. There will be millions of other politicians or millions of those who wish to grab the power, who will follow the same path in their own States.
Sachin has done an immense service to all Indians.The master has played with a straight bat!
Bravo Sachin ! You did what no other politician or common man can do. You hit the "Amachi Mumbai" issue for a Sixer and out of the stadium. Let us face it. No one belongs to any place just by birth. It is immaterial. India is a free county and has welcomed immigrants for the last 10,000 years, which explains the various religions, various languages and dialects.
If Sports men cannot speak politics, politicians should not speak sports...
Bal Thackeray and all his supporters should renounce everything that was not invented by any Maharashtrian. So,he should stop using his luxury imported cars,he should stop using mobile phones and every such thing if he is so repulsive to any foreign element in Maharashtra. I feel bad for educated people in Maharashtra for the embarrasment they would be facing due to such politicians.
I must say Mr Thackeray should have some respect for this country.
Sachin you are truly Indian........ we are proud to have little master like you.
Sachin you have done the right thing and said what most of Indians felt.Bravo Sachin...Keep it up!!!
Sachin has done what all Bombay citizens have wanted to do for a long time. Telling Bal that Bombay belongs to all Indians is the truth as this great city was built on the hard work and sweat of all Indians from Gujrati's to Muslims to Sikhs to Marathis. Just one group cannot claim Bombay because of historical purposes. It is time for our cowardly politicians to rise up and boot the Senas octopus grip on our city. We all know Bal has made billions of dollars under the guise of the marathi manoo's amchi mumbai slogan and we should ask the swiss government to release his hidden bank accounts back to India. If he really cares so much about Mumbai he should have no problem giving it back to re-develop Bombay.
Mr Bal Thackeray crossed the line ur comments very wrong.
do not support ur comments all over the world.
do better poltics want alive okkkkkkkk