The offices of Shiv Sena’s official mouth-piece Saamana were attacked by unidentified miscreants at Navi Mumbai and Thane on Tuesday over a controversial cartoon published in the newspaper on the issue of silent protests being organised by the Maratha community across Maharashtra in protest against the alleged rape and murder of a Maratha girl in Ahmednagar district.
While miscreants hurled stones at the Navi Mumbai office of Saamana, ink was thrown outside the newspaper’s office at Thane. At many places across the State, copies of Saamana were set on fire.
Sena president Uddhav Thackeray is the Managing Editor of Saamana, while Rajya Sabha member and party spokesperson Sanjay Raut is its Executive Editor.
Following the incidents, the police beefed up security outside all Saamana offices.
Punning on the word Mook morcha (silent morcha) and spelling it out as Mooka morcha (kiss morcha), the cartoon made fun of the Maratha agitation. The cartoon among other things show a couple kissing each in the midst of the morcha.
Meanwhile, Sambhaji Brigade – a Maratha organization – claimed responsibility tor the two incidents. In a statement, the Sambhaji Brigade hit out at Saamana saying that the manner in which the cartoon published newspaper had insulted Maratha women was both “serious” and “unfortunate”. “We publicly condemn the Saamana newspaper,” Swapnil Hube, Annasaheb Sawant and Amol Jadhavrao said in their joint statement.
Talking to media persons, Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale said: "An incident of stone pelting was reported at Saamana office, Saanpada, where 2-3 windows have been damaged. An offence has been registered against the culprits. Investigations will be conducted and action will be taken against the accused.”
Distancing his party from the controversial cartoon published in “Saamana”, senior Sena leader Subhash Desai charged that the Congress and NCP were behind the Maratha morchas being taken out in various parts of the state. “During its 15-year rule, the Congress-NCP alliance government did not bring out any concrete plan for the Maratha community. All they did was to announce a lopsided reservation policy which failed to pass the legal scrutiny,” Desai said.
“As far as the Sena is concerned, our party chief Uddhav Thackeray has already clarified that our party extends its full support to the Maratha agitation. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has also promised reservations for Marathas in education and jobs,” Desai said.
In a related development, Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar. leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil of the Congress and his counterpart in the Upper House Dhananjay Munde came down heavily on the cartoon published in “Saamana”.
Shellar demanded an apology from Sena’s executive editor Sanjay Raut for hurting the sentiments of Maratha community members. Taking serious exception to the cartoon published in “Saamana”, Vikhe-Patil said: “The cartoon is a highly objectionable one. It not only hurts the sentiments of the Maratha community members, but it also casts aspersions on women, martyrs and policemen. That’s why Sena President Uddhav Thackeray should tender a public apology,” he said.
The “silent” mochas being taken by Maratha community members in various parts of the state have been drawing huge crowds. The agitators, belonging to the Maratha Kranti Morcha, have been demanding reservations in education and jobs and scrapping of the “misused “SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act). The delegation also demanded stern action against the culprits behind the gangrape and murder of a 14-year-old Maratha girl at Ahmednagar district in July this year.