Embarrassing to the hilt its senior ruling alliance partner in Maharashtra and at the Centre, the Shiv Sena resorted to anti-Pakistan rhetoric yet again on Monday, by blackening the face of Observer Research Foundation (ORF) chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni ahead of the launch of Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s book in Mumbai. But, thanks to the foolproof security measures taken by the BJP Government, the Sena failed to prevent or disrupt the launch of Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister’s book held later in the evening.
Six Sena workers, including shakha pramukh Gajanand Patil, were detained by Antop Hill police.
Emboldened by its recent success in forcing the organisers of a concert of Pakistani Ghazal singer Ghulam Ali to cancel the event, the belligerent Shiv Sena indulged in a paint attack on Kulkarni, who was hosting the launch of Kasuri's book Neither a hawk nor a dove: An insider’s account of Pakistan’s foreign policy in Mumbai.
Given to keeping its political identity intact even while in the ruling coalition in the State and at the Centre, the Sena put the ruling BJP, which is already under attack from various quarters for its failure to rein in the extremists within the saffron brigades, in a tight spot, by nearly wrecking Kasuri’s visit to the metropolis for his book launch.
The day began with some Shiv Sainiks intercepting the car of Kulkarni, an ex-aide of former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee and veteran BJP leader lK Advani, in front of his residence at Matunga in north-central Mumbai and smearing his face with black paint. However, unfazed by the attack, the ORF chairman made the most of his blackened face during the day to expose the ugly face of the Sena, which in its vintage days of party chief late Bal Thackeray would indulge in violence during its protests against Pakistan and its artistes.
Earlier Kulkarni told the media, “When I got out of my home, a group of Shiv Sainiks stopped my car. They smeared me with black paint. They abused me... We won’t be cowed down by such events and the book launch will happen as planned”.
Kasuri, who interacted with Kulkarni at a joint Press conference, denounced the attack on Kulkarni for not succumbing to the Sena's diktat and said: "I recognise people's right to protest, but what has happened with Kulkarni is not a protest".
After the attack on Kulkarni, that came in for sharp criticism from leaders of political parties of all hues, including the BJP, and prominent personalities from across the country, an unperturbed Shiv Sena justified the incident, saying that it was a "non-violent" protest and indicated that it would go the whole-hog in staging a protest at Kasuri's book launch function scheduled to take place at Nehru Centre.
Dubbing Kulkarni as a Pakistani agent, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told media persons: "The man who has organised Kasuri's book launch in Mumbai is a Pakistani agent. We have just blackened the face of Kulkarni. You can see he is going all round with his blackened face. It was not an attack on him. It was just a non-violent protest. It was a very mild form of democratic protest. The ongoing speculation that we have shelved our protest (against Kasuri's book launch) is a blatant lie. We are going ahead with our protest in the evening."
However, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis saved the day for the BJP, as he stood his ground by indirectly disapproving the Sena's act and saying that it was his Government's responsibility to ensure security to all foreigners who were visiting the country with a proper visa. "It's our Government's responsibility to provide security to all foreigners, diplomats or dignitaries who are allowed on proper visa," the Chief Minister said.
After Fadnavis came out with a public statement that there would be adequate protection for Kasuri and that the Maharashtra Government would leave no stone unturned to ensure the smooth launch the book authored by him, the Nehru Centre, the venue of the book, turned into a fortress, with the city police making elaborate security arrangements in and around the venue.
Kasuri's book launch function went off without a hitch in the packed auditorium where the event host Kulkarni and Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Kasuri profusely thanked Fadnavis for ensuring the smooth conduct of the programme. "I would like to thank Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis for providing me excellent security ever since I arrived in Mumbai," he said.
The book launch was followed by a panel discussion in which historian AG Noorani, actor Naseeruddin Shah and senior journalist and Interlocutor on Kashmir participated.
Speaking at his book launch function, Kasuri said: "The purpose of writing this book is to correct some wrong perceptions. Unless those misperceptions are handled directly, nothing will come out of homilies and sweet talks."
Maintaining that he had researched and sourced "every bit of" information used in the book, Kasuri said that he had sent advance copies of his book to President Pranab Mukherjee, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, veteran BJP leader lK Advani, former External Affair Ministers Natwar Singh and Yashwant Sinha.
"I had sent them my book one month before its release. If something unpleasant was said at some point in time, I have reported that.. If I have said anything unpleasant, I have reported that as well.. That's the only way to build trust between us. You cannot build your case by misrepresenting the case of your counterparts i.e. India," Kasuri said, adding that he had devoted as many 350 pages of his 850-page book to India.
Kasuri said that there was currently no place for non-State actors in Pakistan. "I am glad Pakistan Army has launched an operation, a hand-to-hand combat which did not happen even during the British era, against terrorists hiding in tribal and other areas of the country. In a modern State, there is no place for non-State actors of any variety... there is a wide spread realisation to that effect in Pakistan," Kasuri said.
Earlier, Kulkarni took an indirect dig at the Shiv Sena by welcoming the former Pakistan Minister to the metropolis in Marathi.
"I also express my deepest gratitude to all of you who have come to attend the function notwithstanding the extra-ordinary circumstances in which it is being held. This shows your resolve, our resolve and common resolve, the resolve of millions of Mumbaikars to defend the values of tolerance and diversity," Kulkarni said in his opening remarks at Kasuri's book launch ceremony.