Shiv Sena 'bans' Pakistani players, artistes in Mumbai

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena will henceforth not permit any Pakistani player or cultural artiste to come and perform in Mumbai or Maharashtra, a senior party leader said here on Tuesday.

Party MP Sanjay Raut said that it had always been the Sena's policy to discourage any kind of interaction between Pakistanis and Indians.

"However, after this dastardly terror attacks, we will ensure that not a single Pakistani player or cultural artiste will ever set foot anywhere in the state," Raut said.

Castigating the Sena's stand, Jatin Desai, a prominent activist said: "This was on the expected lines from the Shiv Sena."

"In both India and Pakistan, the fundamentalist elements are strongly opposed to improved relations between the two neighbours. They are against secularism and they are no different from these terrorists," said Desai, the spokesperson of the Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD).

He said contrary to general perception, there was a huge outrage in Pakistan against the last week's Mumbai terror attacks that left at least 183 people, including 22 foreigners, dead.

People took part in massive anti-terrorist rallies taken out in Karachi and Lahore, Desai said.

He said even in the past, the Sena had objected to Pakistani cricket team's playing in India, it had opposed a concert by ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali and other cultural artistes from that country.