Mumbai: In October 1991, an undivided Shiv Sena dug up the pitch at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium to prevent India from playing a match with Pakistan there.
Uddhav Thackeray, head of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction, Sunday raised the party’s opposition to any cultural or sporting ties with Pakistan once again, questioning why the Narendra Modi-led Union government is allowing an India-Pakistan match to be played at Ahmedabad as part of the International Cricket World Cup later this year.
While the party’s stand on the issue has not changed over three decades later, despite a split, different combinations of political alliances and many iterations of its original ideology, there is still a nuanced difference.
Neither the Shiv Sena (UBT) nor the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is likely to dig up any pitches now, and any statements opposing India-Pakistan matches are simply part of the political rhetoric. The issue, say analysts, is now more relevant from the point of attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) than actually opposing such a match.
“These are all symbolic things to get people agitated. The party itself isn’t going to really do anything about it. The strategy is, wherever possible, they try to incite the BJP and put it on the back foot on issues of Hindutva and nationalism,” Dr. Sanjay Patil, researcher with Mumbai University’s politics and civic department, told ThePrint.
“Opposition to cultural and sporting ties between India and Pakistan was always one of the main emotive agendas of the Shiv Sena. But there is a difference between how it would present the issue then, and how it is (doing so) now. The party itself is not taking a stand saying the match should be called off, it is only trying to put the BJP on the back foot by urging it to take a stand,” he added.
Vinod Ghosalkar, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, told ThePrint that the BJP keeps saying that his party abandoned Hindutva by allying with the Congress. “This is a response to that criticism. Shiv Sena pramukh Balasaheb Thackeray used to always say people from Pakistan sponsor terror activities on our soil, why should we engage with them. What Uddhavji said is an answer to the BJP’s behaviour, the BJP’s criticism that we have left Hindutva.”
India is scheduled to play Pakistan at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi stadium on 15 October. According to media reports, the two countries will be playing against each other on Indian soil after a gap of seven years.
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‘An answer to BJP’
Over the years, the undivided Shiv Sena has disrupted Indian cricket several times, aggressively protesting any sporting ties with Pakistan. It has also often slammed any cultural tie-ups with artistes from the neighbouring country.
However, its initially aggressive methods toned down over the years, as the party itself underwent a change in character with the rise of Aaditya Thackeray, party founder Bal Thackeray’s grandson, in leadership ranks.
The last time that the party showed any sign of belligerence was in 2015 when six Shiv Sena activists allegedly attacked Sudheendra Kulkarni of the Observer Research Foundation and painted his face black for organising the launch of former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri’s book. While Uddhav met and felicitated the attackers, those close to the leader also said that the six party workers had acted of their own volition and that Thackeray asked them to stay low key after the incident.
The Shiv Sena split into two in 2022 when a faction under rebel Eknath Shinde walked out and joined hands with the BJP to form the government in Maharashtra with him as the chief minister.
Speaking at Hingoli Sunday, Thackeray once again raised the issue, but more as a taunt to the BJP.
“If you want to call us (INDIA alliance of Opposition parties) Indian Mujahideen, which country backs Indian Mujahideen? Pakistan, right? Then in the World Cup, an India-Pakistan match is going to take place at Ahmedabad in the Narendra Modi stadium. Is this your Hindutva and your nationalism? You will go to your stadium and play a Hindustan-Pakistan match?”
He spoke about how late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj had “taken a strong stand on the issue” saying India will not have any relations with Pakistan “till the country stops sponsoring terrorism on Indian soil.”
“That was patriotism, but now you will go and exchange hugs (with members from Pakistan) and on the other hand, you will point fingers at us,” Thackeray said in his speech.
The Shinde-led Sena has not raised the party’s traditional Pakistan agenda since the split, and neither had the Shiv Sena (UBT) until Sunday.
Sena’s anti-Pakistan agenda
In 1999, members of the Shiv Sena had damaged the pitch at Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla ground to protest against an India-Pakistan game.
Media reports show Sena activists had also threatened to disrupt a New Zealand-Pakistan match in Mohali in 2006.
Three years later, at a public meeting, Thackeray reportedly demanded that Pakistani cricket players not be included in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He, however, did not say Shiv Sena would disrupt IPL matches if the cricket board does not pay heed.
The following year, the party called for a boycott of Shah Rukh Khan-starrer My Name is Khan after the actor supported the inclusion of Pakistani cricket players in the IPL.
In 2015, the party forced the cancellation of a concert by Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali in Mumbai, and the same year, six party workers allegedly blackened Kulkarni’s face ahead of the Kasuri book launch. The book launch, however, went ahead as planned, unlike the Ghulam Ali concert.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ravindra Mirlekar said their stand on not engaging with Pakistan has not wavered over the years even in its aggression. “Because of our stand, nobody dares to hold an India-Pakistan match in Mumbai. What else can we do about what other people decide to do in other states, besides criticising? People understand that the BJP is indulging in politics of convenience. As much as possible, Uddhav saheb speaks up about it.”
Meanwhile, former MLA Shishir Shinde, the Shiv Sena leader instrumental in digging up the Wankhede pitch in 1991, joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in July this year.
Speaking to ThePrint, he said, “It’s been a long time since the Wankhede incident. After that, Pakistan came to India, played matches…Balasaheb was an inspiring leader on whose word karyakartas would be willing to go any distance. It’s not the same anymore.”
“Ata sandarbha badalle, paristithi badalli,” he added. (Now, the contexts have changed and so has the situation.)
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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