India’s extremist political party Shiv Sena has exhorted Hindus to act as “human bombs” and invade Pakistan, and said that its founder, Bal Thackeray, had instilled the “fear of Hindus” in other Indians.
The comments came in the context of the controversy over the latest issue of the weekly Indian magazine Tehelka depicting Thackeray as a terrorist.
Taking umbrage at the cover story, the Sena, in an editorial in its mouthpiece, Saamna, on Tuesday lambasted the magazine, and said publishing the objectionable article against the Sena founder was as good as “spitting at the sun”.
The editorial eulogised his strong-arm Hindutva ideology.
The Tehelka cover pictures don Dawood Ibrahim, 1993 blasts convict Yakub Memon, who was hanged recently, Sikh extremist Jarnail Singh Bindranwale and Bal Thackeray, with a primer, “Who is the biggest terrorist?”.
“Hindus should be able to live in this country with pride. A Hindu’s voice should be like a lion’s roar. Hindus will have to be highly religious if they want to answer Pakistani extremists,” The Shiv Sena mouth piece said.
The Saamna editorial elicited condemnation on social media, with many taking sarcastic jibes at the Sena leadership.
