The protest forced the cancellation of the talks. The 10 were arrested on charges of unlawful assembly and violating the police commissioner’s order to refrain from such assembling, a senior police officer said. The accused, belonging to Shiv Sena, allegedly stormed into the BCCI office, where its president Shashank Manohar was having a meeting with PCB officials, he said.
The police said those arrested have been identified as – Shailesh Sarvai, Vijay Manjerakar, Vilas Khot, Ramakant Bhosle, Pradeep Yeolakar, Satish Khot, Milind Jore, Anil Jadhav, Dilip Balkhede and Mahesh Gulgule. “Apart from these 10 arrested, we are also considering to act against 5-10 more people who were part of the protest and violated the police commissioner’s order to restrain from unlawful assembly,” a statement issued by Mumbai Police said.
The accused have been booked under Sections 141, 143, 149 and 37(1) of the IPC and also Section 135 of the Mumbai Police Act. The arrested had allegedly not sought prior permission to stage the protest.
In the morning, over 100 Shiv Sena workers staged a noisy protest against the PCB chief at the BCCI office over the issue of resumption of cricketing ties between India and the neighbouring country. This is the second time in eight days that Sena workers have been booked by the city police for staging protests against Pakistan and its dignitaries.
Last Monday, the police had arrested six Sena workers for blackening the face of ORF chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni, ahead of former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s book launch in the city. The arrested were produced before a court, which granted them bail on a personal bond of Rs 2,000 each, a police official said.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena has received severe flak over the incident, with various parties condemning it.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has demanded that the Shiv Sena be derecognised in the backdrop of the latter’s recent activities, including Monday’s protests at BCCI office in the city, saying in its nearly 50 years of existence the regional party has only contributed to “politics of hate and goondaism”. “It’s been nearly 50 years of Shiv Sena’s existence and other than politics of hate and goondaism it has not made one credible contribution to the nation,” AAP spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon said.
Slamming the Sena, Menon said though the party has not ruled the state on its own even once, it claimed to be the voice of Maharashtra.
“Surviving on coalitions and politics of convenience, it has not ruled Maharashtra on its own even once, and yet poses as the voice of Maharashtra. It took more than two decades of existence for the Shiv Sena to win one Lok Sabha seat and its best Assembly performance was 73/288 in 1995, after nearly 30 years of existence,” she pointed out.
Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said: “We are a democratic nation and every one 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 a kind of protest.”
The BJP and the Shiv Sena are long-term allies in the state. Off late, there have been reports of strained ties between the two parties, running a coalition government in Maharashtra.
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.
NCP leader Rahul Narvekar said Sena has been involved in such activities for long. “This is not how you express your resentment to a particular thought. You adopt constitutional measures which are available with you,” he said.
Meanwhile, justifying the protest by party workers, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said, “We have not committed any crime by protesting. We are opposing Pakistan and our stand against them is nothing new. This is not a political protest. We are only doing what is the feeling of the people of this country, because feelings of people are important to us.”
“The people of the nation do not want any relations with Pakistan till they stop terrorist activities and hatching conspiracies against India. There will be no cricket, cultural and political relations with them until they stop doing it,” Raut said.
Rajeev Shukla flays incident
IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla has strongly condemned the protest by Shiv Sena workers at the BCCI’s headquarters in Mumbai. “Strongly condemn the attack on BCCI Office by Shiv Sena,” Shukla, a top BCCI functionary, wrote on his twitter handle. “BCCI is a responsible body and will not do anything against national interest. Cricketing decisions should be left to BCCI,” he added. "Cricket is a gentleman's game and the spirit of the game expects same generosity and tolerance from those who love the game," he further tweeted.