BJP changed its stance against Pakistan after coming to power: Shiv Sena

A day after its short-lived protest against former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book launch in Mumbai, the Shiv Sena launched a frontal attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing its senior ally of watering down its opposition to Pakistan after coming to power.

Accusing minister Devendra Fadnavis of having made Maharashtra lose its face by allowing the event, the Shiv Sena — which saw its protest peter out with the launch passing off uneventfully amidst unprecedented security — tried to claim the hyper-nationalist political space before the Kalyan-Dombivali civic polls, where the two saffron allies have fallen apart.

Speaking to dna, Sanjay Raut — Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and executive editor of the party newspaper Saamna — denied that the protests against Kasuri and ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali are a fallout of the deteriorating ties between the allies, but was unsparing in the criticism of the BJP. He claimed that blackening the face of senior journalist Sudheendra Kulkarni, chairman of Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the organiser of the event, was part of the agitation.

Excerpts:
You had threatened to disrupt the book launch, but that did not happen? Did the Shiv Sena's agitation fizzle out?
A: We wanted to show our aggressive opposition (to Kasuri's book launch). Our people were working on it since morning. The blackened face (of Sudheendra Kulkarni) sent across a message. Paramilitary forces were deployed (at the Nehru Centre in Worli where the event took place). Should people have been killed (while protesting)? Then you would have accused us of taking lives. Blackening his face was part of our agitation. Kulkarni was moving around with his blackened face. This sent a message not just to the country but to the world.

The Shiv Sena opposes any cultural or sporting ties with Pakistan. Then, how can the relations with the two countries be taken forward?
A: It is up to the government to decide how this can be taken forward. We have worked with our full strength (to protest against Pakistan). Today's Saamna's headline is spot on when it says that only the Shiv Sena was ranged against Pakistan. This message has gone out clearly. The country has not survived because of intellectuals, who talk about Pakistan. It has survived because of jawans, who have laid their lives down at the border. The Maharashtra chief minister should know this. He said that "our protest had led to Maharashtra losing its face". However, it is the successful conduct of Kasuri's program which has made Maharashtra lose its reputation.

Your detractors allege that the protest was a fallout of worsening relations between the Shiv Sena and the BJP and an effort at one-upmanship….
A: Let them continue to make these allegations. The Shiv Sena has been protesting against Pakistan even before it allied with the BJP. The alliance came later, the opposition to Pakistan came first.

Doesnt this contain an inherent contradiction? The Shiv Sena is in power at the state and Centre but still takes to the streets like an opposition party.
A: We see no contradiction here. This (opposition to Pakistan) was the BJP's stance too. It changed once they came to power. We have not changed, they have. In fact they should have sharpened their stance (on Pakistan) after coming to power instead of watering it down. Hugging Kasuri is not diplomacy.

Do you feel let down by the BJP?
A: They have no strength to let us down. The Shiv Sena's strength is greater. Just being in power does not mean they are strong. Organisational strength and a national sentiment is stronger than the strength of being in power.

But then, your critics say that even Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad had visited (the Thackeray family residence of) Matoshree….
A: (Late Shiv Sena chief) Balasaheb (Thackeray) had asked him to leave and warned him that his antics would not work. Dilip Vengsarkar had brought Miandad to Balasaheb to discuss the Shiv Sena's opposition to cricket matches with Pakistan. Balasaheb said he would not allow cricket with Pakistan, and told him that since he (Miandad) had come as a guest, he should take tea and leave.