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Shiv Sena activists on Monday smeared black paint on Observer Research Foundation chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni’s face for refusing to cancel former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s book launch.
“When I got out of my home this morning, a group of Shiv Sainiks stopped my car. When I came out, they smeared me with black paint. They abused me,” Kulkarni alleged and said that his ORF, a foreign policy think-tank, will go ahead with the planned book launch by Kasuri later today despite the attack.
“We won’t be cowed down by such events and the book launch will happen as planned,” he said and soon after was present at a media interaction along with Kasuri while still drenched in paint.
Mumbai police spokesperson Dhananjay Kulkarni said the incident occurred in front of Kulkarni’s house near Kings circle in suburban Matunga around 9.30 am. “About 5-7 unknown persons shouted some slogans and threw colour or ink on him,” he said, adding city police will provide security for the event to prevent any untoward incident.
The attack drew sharp condemnation from parties, with Congress saying that “the idea of India as the most liberal democratic country, despite all our neighbours having gone the other way, is being destroyed in the root”.
Defending the action of party activists, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said “smearing ink is a very mild form of democratic protest. They are so upset about ink. Imagine when our soldiers are killed and their blood is spilled. It is not ink, it is the blood of our soldiers.
“Nobody can foretell how public anger will explode. People in the country are angry over the violence and bloodshed by Pakistan. We do not have anything personal against Kasuri or anyone else,” Raut said.
Kasuri’s book ‘Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Insider’s Account of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy’, which was recently unveiled in Delhi, was set to be launched in Mumbai on Monday. Sena had demanded that the event be scrapped and had threatened to disrupt it.
Kulkarni, who has served as speechwriter for Bharatiya Janata Party veterans Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, had met Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence ‘Matoshree’ late Sunday night, but left without getting any assurance from him.
Kasuri said he was “most upset” over the “unfortunate” incident and asserted that while he respected the right to protest, it should be done in a democratic manner.
The Pakistani leader said the main purpose of his visit was to talk about the peace process between India and Pakistan during his tenure.
“Pakistan and India are not born to hate each other. If there are men of goodwill on both sides, situation could easily change.... That is what is contained in my book and I thought it was important to give this message,” he said.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party leader Preeti Sharma Menon demanded the immediate arrest of those involved in the ink attack on Kulkarni.
“It is a shame that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has totally failed to provide law and order in the state capital. BJP’s coalition partner Shiv Sena has started a reign of cultural terrorism in Mumbai akin to the Taliban. They threatened the organisers of the Ghulam Ali show and got it cancelled a few days back,” she said.
“Today they have attacked Sudheendra Kulkarni, the Chairperson of Observer Research Foundation which is hosting a book launch event at the Nehru Centre in Worli,” she said.
The AAP demands that offences be registered against the Shiv Sena leaders who have led this attack and they be arrested immediately, Menon said.
“Despite the CM’s so-called assurance of protection, Kulkarni was attacked outside his house and his face was blackened. Mumbai police should have taken cognisance of the threat and should have registered cases against all those who has issued the threat,” she said.
The Aam Aadmi Party “has been demanding that FIRs should be registered against the Shiv Sena leaders who are threatening the law and order situation in the state, but the police and government have failed to act.
“Hence, the Shiv Sena is getting bolder in its actions and it won’t be surprising if they resort to more and more violence in the coming days,” she said.
“If the BJP cannot even protect its own people there is little hope that they can safeguard the lives of the citizens. The Aam Aadmi Party believes that if the BJP is unable to control what they call ‘fringe’ elements, then it has lost its right to rule the state,” the AAP leader said.
Condemning the paint smearing attack on his one-time aide, BJP patriarch L K Advani voiced concern over "growing intolerance" in the country towards any counter viewpoint.
"I strongly condemn whosoever has done it.... In the last few days, there are these signs...where any person or any point of view is not acceptable, then you resort to violence or turn intolerant towards them.
"This is a matter of concern for the nation. Democracy must ensure tolerance for a different point of view," Advani said.
The senior BJP leader was speaking at the sidelines of a function where a journal on strategic affairs named 'Chanakya' was launched.
He, however, added that he did not have any information on who attacked Kulkarni as he is yet to communicate with him. "I could not contact Sudheendra ji. I think, at least those who are involved with us should work to strengthen democracy and not encourage such acts of violence and disown them.
"I do not know who has done it and therefore I cannot name anyone. But whosoever has done it, has besmirched the good name of the country," he said.
Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju also disapproved of the Shiv Sainiks action, saying everyone has the freedom to protest but not physically harm anyone.
“This is about mentality...In this country, everyone has a fundamental right to protest but there has to be a way to protest, not physically harm anyone. This is not right,” he said.
“The Constitution has given right to everyone to protest in a democratic way. One should only lodge protest under the law and this will act to strengthen our democracy,” he said on the sidelines of a Border Security Force event in Delhi.
Rijiju said that law and order is a state subject and in a case where a foreigner has come to India for unveiling of a book but has not acted against the country, such an act should not have happened.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi claimed incidents of “intolerance” have risen over the last 18 months after the BJP came to power.
“I cannot find words strong enough to condemn the incident. It is not a case of Kulkarni or Kasuri. It is the case of liberal democratic ethos of India.... Almost every day, we are witnessing such incidents, they are creating mutual antagonism. There is a clear connection with the party in power, with a remote control in Nagpur.
“The only person who can stop this is the prime minister and, unfortunately, he keeps silence on these issues,” Singhvi said.
Communist Party of India leader D Raja said that the Sena’s actions were “highly deplorable”.
“Shiv Sena should not resort to such politics which is not in line with the Constitution. Such actions show intolerance and also that it is against any effort to build good relations with Pakistan,” he added.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh slammed the attack on Kulkarni saying “such intolerance in India can’t be tolerated. First Ghulam Ali concert and now Kasuri’s book launch, we don’t want a desi Taliban in India.”
On his meeting with Sena chief, Kulkarni said, “I pointed out to Uddhavji that Kasuri should be allowed to put forth his views. I also told him that if the Sena has a different view point, they could protest in a democratic, peaceful manner.”
“The Sena president told me that unlike Ghulam Ali, Kasuri was not an artist but was part of the machinery which perpetrated terror,” he told PTI.