Having tasted blood, the Shiv Sena was at it again. Raising an anti-Pakistan bogey for the third time in less than a fortnight, Sena workers on Monday stormed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters and forced its officials to cancel the talks scheduled in the city with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Shaharyar Khan over the resumption of bilateral cricketing ties.
The protesters told newly-elected president Shashank Manohar in no uncertain terms that the BCCI should not resume cricketing ties with Pakistan in view of the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, in which Pakistani terrorists killed 166 people and injured 300 others.
Giving in to the Sainiks’ vociferous protests, the BCCI cancelled the scheduled meeting in Mumbai and shifted the venue of the talks on the proposed bilateral series to New Delhi, where Shashank Manohar will hold talks with the visiting PCB chief on Tuesday.
Interacting with the media, IPl Chairman and senior Board member Rajiv Shukla said, “The talks (between the chiefs of BCCI and PCB) have not been called off. The dialogue will continue. Manohar and Khan will speak to each other this evening. The two will hold a formal round of talks in New Delhi tomorrow”. Shukla and BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur will also be present at Tuesday’s meeting in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, citing the incident of Shiv Sena activists storming the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai protesting against the resumption of bilateral cricket series between the arch-rivals, the International Cricket Council (ICC) president Zaheer Abbas said in Karachi he feared for Pakistani players’ security during the World T20 in India next year.
“Pakistan and India cricket authorities must work it out, otherwise I fear the Pakistan players could also refuse to tour India for the upcoming World T20 Cup, citing security concerns,” former Test captain Abbas told a news channel.
“I don’t know what the environment will be when the World T20 is held in India but if this situation persists, obviously there will be extra pressure on our players,” he added.
The Twenty20 World Cup is scheduled to be held in India in March-April.
Meanwhile, the ICC has withdrawn umpire Aleem Dar of Pakistan from the remainder of the limited-overs series between India and South Africa after the Sena threatened to prevent him from officiating in the last game in Mumbai. The ICC released a statement on Monday saying it made the decision after members of the Shiv Sena stormed the office of the BCCI.
Earlier, Zaheer had told the Pakistani media that politics and sports should be kept apart and the arch-rivals should play at a neutral venue in December to help reduce tensions between the two countries.
The storming of BCCI headquarters in Mumbai by Shiv Sena workers sparked condemnation with ally BJP saying there is no place for “hooliganism” while Congress called it “abominable”.
“We are a democratic nation and everyone has the right to protest on any issue in a democratic manner. But there is a difference between a democratic way and hoologanism. No one accepts such kind of protest,” Naqvi said.
Congress leader Manish Tewari described the incident as “abominable” and said law and order had completely “broken down” in Maharashtra, and Mumbai has been reduced to a “mobocracy”, citing a spate of recent incidents, including the cancellation of ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s show due to Sena’s protests.
“It is extremely unfortunate... This is extremely abominable. law and order has completely broken down in Maharashtra. The President of India should take cognisance of this,” he said.
NCP leader Rahul Narvekar said Sena has been involved in such activities since very long.
“This is not how you express your resentment to a particular thought. You adopt constitutional measures which are available with you,” he said.
Maharashtra BJP also asserted that the State Government would provide adequate security if the city were to host matches with Pakistan and said it did not agree with its ally Shiv Sena’s agenda of opposing cricket and cultural ties with the neighbouring country.
State BJP president Raosaheb Danve, while speaking to reporters here, said Shiv Sena had been opposing sports and cultural ties with Pakistan for long.
“Recently they protested against Ghulam Ali concert and book release of former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri. This is not right. We don’t agree with Shiv Sena’s agenda,” Danve said.
Earlier in the day, the BCCI management was taken by surprise, as an irate group of 60 to 70 Shiv Sainiks forced its way inside the BCCI headquarters located at Wankhede Stadium in South Mumbai and gheraoed Manohar shortly before his meeting with the visiting PCB chief began at 11.30 am.
Shouting slogans like “Shiv Sena zindabad” and “Pakistan hai hai” and carrying placards that stated “Shaharyar Khan chale jao,” “Shaharyar Khan go back”, the Sena activists gheraoed the BCCI chief. Apart from carrying Shiv Sena’s saffron flags, the protesters were also waving black flags to register their protest against the impending resumption of Indo-Pak cricketing ties.
Sena’s protests on Monday were in line with the party’s aggressive stand that it would not allow any cricket matches and performances by the Pakistani artistes in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra till such time Islamabad did not stop sponsoring terror acts on Indian soil.
Ten Shiv Sainks were arrested on charges of unlawful assembly and violating the Police Commissioner’s order restraining them from such an act. They were later produced before a city court which released them on a personal bond of Rs 2,000.
Shaharyar Khan is in India for a meeting with the BCCI functionaries on a series being planned between the two countries in December this year. BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur had earlier held initial talks with the PCB officials on the sidelines of the ICC meeting in Dubai. PCB’s executive committee head Najam Sethi who had accompanied Shaharyar Khan for the meeting left the country later in the day leaving Shaharyar Khan to go ahead with the talks.
Talking to media persons after staging the protests at the BCCI headquarters, Sena Vibhag Pramukh Pandurang Sakpal said that his party was firm on its stand that there should be no cricket ties between the two countries till the Pakistan-sponsored terror activities continued in India. “We are firm on our stand. There is no questioning of our discontinuing our protests against Pakistan,” he said.
Queried as to how the Sena was staging protests despite being in the Government in the State and at the Centre, Sakpal said: “let the Government do its job, we will continue to stage protests in our style.”
Monday’s was the third anti-Pakistan protest that the Shiv Sena has staged in less than a fortnight.
Earlier on October 7, the Shiv Sena had forced the organisers of renowned Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s concert to cancel the event scheduled at Shanmukhananda Hall at Matunga in north-central Mumbai on October 9.
later on October 12, the Shiv Sena blackened 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 fool-proof security measures taken by the BJP, the Sena failed to prevent or disrupt the launch of Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister’s book held later in the evening.
However, the Sena’s paint attack on Kulkarni came in for severe flak from political parties and prominent personalities from different walks of life from all over the country. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also condemned the incident, saying it had brought “bad name” to Maharashtra, a charge that the Sena vehemently contested and targeted Fadnavis for a vicious attack.