India
Branding Kasuri a 'chamchaa' (sycophant), Raut said that the Shiv Sena has nothing against him personally, but banning Pakistani artists and diplomats who came to India was the only way of sending a strong message to the hostile neighbour.
Updated : Oct 12, 2015, 02:27 PM IST
The Bharatiya Janata Party ally Shiv Sena has justified the attack on BJP ideologue Sudheendra Kulkarni for organising former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book launch in Mumbai.
The Sena has termed the attack as a 'mild' one and warned that until the 'message is received' such attacks will keep on happening.
"This is not ink, but the blood of our martyrs on his face. He should feel ashamed for siding with Pakistan's 'chamchas'. You cannot stop people as they have paint up hatred against Pakistan in their minds," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said.
Branding Kasuri a 'chamchaa' (sycophant), Raut said that the Shiv Sena has nothing against him personally, but banning Pakistani artists and diplomats who came to India was the only way of sending a strong message to the hostile neighbour.
Even though Raut did not take credit for the attack on Kulkarni, he said that if the Shiv Sena is being accused for the attack then 'so be it'.
"We won't be cowed down by such events and the book launch will happen as planned," the organiser said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday assured protection to the book launch event of Kasuri. However, stating that this doesn't mean that they endorse all views expressed in the program, Fadnavis added, "No anti India propaganda will be tolerated through any such program and if found so the organisers would be held responsible."
Kasuri is scheduled to attend the launch of his book 'Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Insider's Account of Pakistan's Foreign Policy' in Mumbai. Sena had demanded that the event be scrapped and had threatened to disrupt it.