A day after Ambani said Mumbai belonged to all Indians, Sena chief Bal Thackeray warned him to do business without provoking Maharashtrians.
Struggling to remain politically relevant after Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) hijacked the Marathi agenda, the Shiv Sena on Friday trained its guns on actor Shah Rukh Khan and industrialist Mukesh Ambani, slamming them on its pet peeves: Pakistan and the Mumbai-for-all talk.
A day after Ambani said Mumbai belonged to all Indians, Sena chief Bal Thackeray warned him to do business without provoking Maharashtrians. Sena leader Sanjay Raut dared Khan to settle in Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad if he wanted Pakistani players in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Maharashtrians have as much right over Mumbai as Mukesh Ambani has over Reliance companies,’’ said Thackeray. “Do not meddle with Mumbai and the Marathi manoos,” Thackeray said in a front-page article in Sena mouthpiece Saamna.
Thackeray compared Mukesh with his father, the late Dhirubhai Ambani, and commented that the son had chosen a different path. “Until now I considered Mukesh Ambani a true Mumbaikar. His father, my friend, was loyal to Mumbai. Dhirubhai had always acknowledged his indebtedness to Maharashtra. Then why has Mukesh chosen a different path?” he asked.
“When pandit Mukesh Ambani says Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi belong to all Indians, why has he left out cities likes Ahmedabad, Jamnagar and Rajkot?” he asked with trademark sarcasm.
Thackeray said many prominent personalities were vying with each other to proclaim that Mumbai belonged to all for their own selfish considerations. ``In doing so, nobody is showing sensitivity to the feelings of Maharashtrians to whom Mumbai belongs,” Thackeray added.
In November last year, Thackeray had targeted cricketer Sachin Tendulkar for his “Mumbai belongs to all” remark. Thackeray had advised Tendulkar to stick to cricket only and stay off political matters.
Actor Shah Rukh Khan drew the Shiv Sena chief’s ire after advocating an environment where IPL franchisees could recruit Pakistani players with ease. Khan is also a co-owner of IPL franchisee Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Shiv Sainiks protested Khan’s statement by tearing posters of his forthcoming film My name is Khan in Andheri and Thane on Friday. The party has warned multiplex owners against screening the film, which released on February 12.
Hitting out at Khan, party spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “If a ‘Khan’ in Shah Rukh is woken up he should leave ‘Mannat’ and settle in either Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad, and play with the Pakistani players there. He knows it well what will happen if he takes Pakistani players in IPL,” he said.
Khan on Wednesday had said that his team had exhausted its quota of foreign players by picking up Shane Bond. He would have loved to have Pakistani players in Kolkata Knight Riders.
“Pakistan has been blatantly indulging in terror activities and killing our innocent people. Sena is firm on the policy of not allowing Pakistani players on our soil,” Raut said. He also reiterated the party’s ban on Australian players.
Maharashtra minister of state for home Ramesh Bagwe said the government would not allow anyone take law in his hands. “We will provide Shah Rukh Khan security if he demands it,” he said.
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