In a sharp attack against the BJP, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday that ink attacks carried out by his party workers did not defame India, but the lynching of a person in Dadri did.
“What is this uproar over beef? If you are so concerned about people eating beef in India, why don’t you declare this country a Hindu Rashtra? Why don’t you implement Uniform Civil Code? No one will eat beef ever in this country and the entire chaos will come to halt,” he said, without naming the BJP, in his annual Dasara rally speech in Mumbai.
“Incidents like Dadri in which a man was killed over a false assumption of eating beef defames this country more than the ink attack,” he said, reiterating the Sena’s anti-Pakistan stand and supporting the ink attack against the chairperson of Observer Research Foundation, Sudheendra Kulkarni.
‘We will not change stand’
Mr. Thackeray on Thursday asked the BJP what its true attitude to the Dalits was. Criticising Union Minister V.K. Singh for his statement on the killing of Dalits, Mr. Thackeray asked: “If this is your mentality towards Dalits, why did you take the initiative to build Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s memorial at the Indu Mill.”
Warning the BJP, he said his party would never change its stand whether it shared power or not. He also hit out at the BJP indirectly on the Ram temple issue. Mandir wahin banayenge par tareekh nahi batayange [We will make the temple but won’t tell the date].” Mr. Thackeray raised the Hindutva pitch right through his 40-minute speech. However, there was no mention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This is our Hindutva. Our jawans are being killed and we light candles. Now, they want Pakistanis here. Don’t care about the others but we will not take all this. Balasaheb used to say be proud to say we are Hindus. These are my Shiv Sainiks,” he said.
Two weeks ago, the Sena threatened the organisers of Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s concert in Mumbai, forcing them to cancel the event. Then, the party activists threw black oil paint on the chairperson of Observer Research Foundation, Sudheendra Kulkarni. On Monday, it stormed the BCCI headquarters demanding that no talks be held with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
“You should rather provide security to dal and not to the citizens of Pakistan,” he taunted, over the government’s action of extending security to Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister who was in Mumbai last week. “This government should know that we are the last hope of the people. But if you are fine with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, you should listen to the Sena as well. If you are to allow Pakistan’s flags, do not shy away from our saffron flags,” he said.
Indicating that his party was not afraid of contesting elections alone, Mr. Thackeray said his father’s dream was to hoist the saffron flag in the Assembly. “I will make that dream a reality,” he said.
However, the Sena leader clarified that his party had not decided on walking out of its alliance with the BJP. “Why should we quit the alliance? We are here to work for the people. We know how much time should be spent in power,” he said.
