Log in to your IBTimes Account

close
ID
Password

Shiv Sena's Thackeray urges Hindus to form suicide squads to tackle Islamic fundamentalism, receives flak



By Deepika Mitra
19 June 2008 @ 9:47 pm IST

Mumbai - "Fight fire with fire," is what Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray meant to say when he urged Hindus to form suicide squads to take on the Muslims suicide squads. However, his rhetorics bombed when both the secular Congress as well as political allies the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the RSS criticized him for his insensitive remark.


In this Oct. 18, 2002 file photo, Hindu hardline Shiv Sena party leader Bal Thackeray speaks at a press conference at his residence in Mumbai, India
In this Oct. 18, 2002 file photo, Hindu hardline Shiv Sena party leader Bal Thackeray speaks at a press conference at his residence in Mumbai, India. Thackeray called on Hindus to form suicide bomber squads and attack Muslim neighborhoods to combat Islamic terrorism, a threat promptly condemned by political friends and foes alike. (AP Photo)
1 of 1

advertisement

In an editorial in Saamna, Shiv Sena's mouthpiece, Thackeray said a "Hindu bomb" was needed to counter the "Muslim bomb." Thackeray's rhetorics was related to the bomb attacks in theaters in Thane, Vashi and Panvel earlier this month and the subsequent arrests of those suspected to be involved in planting the bombs. While the police managed to defuse the bomb planted in Vashi in time, bombs exploded in Thane and Panvel, injuring several people.

Initial police investigations revealed that the suspects belonged to the Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Jana Jagriti Samiti outfits.

Though the Hindu radical outfits have denied having any hand in the bomb attacks, yet, investigations revealed that the attacks were targeted against a controversial Marathi play Aamhi Pachpute, which was being staged in Thane and Vashi and was ridiculing Hindu deities. The attack on the Panvel theater was targeted at the screening of the movie Jodhaa Akbar, which, some Hindu hardliners claimed, portrayed the Hindu community in poor light.

Criticizing the two outfits, Thackeray said the two Hindu bodies should have "held talks with the playwright or the director on the vexed points" instead of orchestrating "ridiculous and stupid" bomb attacks that left several Hindus injured.

Thackeray said he was "happy" that the bombs were made by Hindus, but was saddened by the fact that innocent Hindus were injured. He also criticized the attackers for planting such a weak bomb. "No one but a Hindu could be responsible for a bomb that caused such little injury and was such a wasteful enterprise," he said.

This article is copyrighted by Ibtimes.co.in.

    Click!
  • Rate this article:

Comments

Post Your Comment

You must be an IBTimes member to post a comment. Login | Register


advertisement
More Life & Style News
Bollywood actor Preity Zinta reacts during a media conference to announce her as a goodwill ambassador for the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (...
Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, left, and Katrina Kaif look on during the inaugural session of FICCI Frames 2010 in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, March 16, 20...
Tiger Woods will start trying to restore a reputation battered by marital infidelities at next month's U.S Masters, the tournament which helped him becom...

advertisement
 
IBTimes.co.in Web
 
International Business Times© 2010 The Ibtimes Company. All Rights Reserved. Partners