The Shiv Sena on Monday said that Chief Minister had the task of protecting Marathi author and critique Dr Shripal Sabnis from his own party men. Dr Sabnis has been receiving threats from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers for his statements criticising the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
An editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna on Monday reminded Mr. Fadnavis about the security cover that was arranged to protect Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri from Shiv Sena activists during his visit to India. The BJP had then criticised Sena’s ‘mob mentality’ and now the CM has to deal with BJP’s mob mentality, the editorial stated.
“We opposed a country, which attacked us and is dreaming of dividing us. If that was mob mentality, then what is BJP doing in the case of Mr. Sabnis? Sena never threatened anyone with dire consequences; BJP is doing the same thing. We did for the love of nation, BJP is doing it for the love of Modi,” said the editorial.
In a function in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Dr. Sabnis, who is president of the upcoming 89th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan 2016, had said that Mr Modi would forever remain “smeared with the taint of the 2002 Gujarat riots” and that he was a Prime Minister he would not endorse.
“When he [Prime Minister Narendra Modi] went to Pakistan to meet Nawaz Sharif, he could have been killed. Hafiz Saeed was there, Dawood Ibrahim was there. All the terrorist training centres are there and someone’s bullet or bomb might have killed him,” Dr Sabnis had said.
According to the police, Dr Sabnis has allegedly been receiving a stream of threats demanding an apology from him else “his arms and legs would be broken”.
