Accusing Pakistan of sheltering militants and promoting terrorism against India, the Shiv Sena on Sunday claimed that its activists will stage protests at Jaipur and Mohali and not allow the Pakistani cricket team to play in the ongoing Champions Trophy.
Pakistan play their lung-opener against qualfiers Sri Lanka on October 17 in Jaipur.
Sena's North India Pramukh Jaybhagwan Goyal declared that the Shiv Sena would hold street protests in Jaipur on October 16 and 17.
He added that around 150 of its activists have reached Jaipur and they could go "to any extreme" to prevent the Pakistani cricketers from playing.
Goyal alleged that Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI was involved in the July 11 Mumbai train blasts.
In a hard-hitting article in the Sena's mouthpiece Saamna on Sunday, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said, "We have been saying for years now that there should not be any cricket match between Pakistan and India. We are also cricket lovers but not at the cost of our national pride."
Citing the July 11 train blasts in Mumbai, in which nearly 200 persons were killed, Thackeray asked, "How will the country progress if we are not even able to demonstrate our condemnation of Pakistan's terrorist activity by boycotting cricket match with it?"
He questioned the heightened security arrangements around Mumbai's Brabourne stadium, saying: "Why so much effort to protect our enemies?"
