Thackeray backs down, withdraws
threat to disrupt Pak tour
The threat to the first India-Pakistan Test cricket series in 12 years is over. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has backtracked from his earlier hard-line stand and announced that he will "allow" the Pakistanis to play in India "just for this year".
Thackeray also 'appealed' to his followers to suspend their agitation against the series.
Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani flew to Bombay today as an emissary of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and met the Sena leader following widespread criticism of his party men's attack on the headquarters of the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday.
The two politicians met at Hotel Airport Centaur where Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan, and Sena leader Raj Thackeray were also present.
The meeting lasted an hour after which Mahajan, a senior politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party and architect of its alliance with the Sena, read out a statement approved by Advani and Thackeray.
The statement said Thackeray would not like the Congress to take advantage of any differences of perception between the two parties and so, in response to the prime minister's request, "he has decided to suspend the protest against the series of matches between the two countries for this year only".
At the same time, Thackeray congratulated Shiv Sena men from all over the country for making the agitation "successful" and directed them to suspend it forthwith.
Thackeray told Advani that he too is a cricket lover and is not opposed to the Tests per se, but he said he was more concerned about the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence's subversive activities in India.
Advani said the Centre shares his concern and has been taking firm action to contain militancy and neutralise the ISI. He also told Thackeray that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the worst victim of Pakistan's proxy war, is witnessing a sea change.
He assured the Sena leader that the government's efforts in this direction would continue. But, he said, the Centre feels growing interaction between the peoples of the two countries in sports, the fine arts, and culture is desirable.
Both Thackeray and Advani avoided the reporters who had gathered at the hotel. Joshi, Munde and Mahajan also refused to answer any queries.
Advani later returned to New Delhi while Thackeray drove back to his residence and refused to meet reporters.
Thackeray's decision to withdraw the threat to disrupt the series came in the wake of widespread condemnation of the destruction of the BCCI office and the police high-handedness on a group of people protesting against the vandalism the next day.
The Sena has denied being involved in the attack even though police finally arrested 14 of the party's men this morning. They were remanded to judicial custody till January 28.
Raj Thackeray, when contacted by reporters after the crucial meeting, could not hide his anger at the arrests. He claimed the men were out of Bombay when the incident took place. "Just because the police could not find the real culprits, they arrested the Shiv Sainiks," he charged.
Joshi said those arrested claimed to be innocent and ruled out any action against them as the "issue is now over".
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EARLIER REPORT:
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The Pakistan cricket tour
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