M A I N   N E W S

Action against Thackeray okayed
Shiv Sainiks take to streets

MUMBAI, July 15 (PTI) — The Maharashtra Government today gave the green signal to the police to prosecute Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray for his alleged role during the 1992-93 communal riots in the metropolis.

This was announced by Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal here.

Mr Thackeray would be prosecuted under Section 153 (A) of the IPC (causing enmity between various religious communities), Mr Bhujbal said.

The file against Mr Thackeray for his “inflammatory” writings in the Sena mouthpiece “Saamna” during the communal riots was pending and police had sought the Home Department’s permission to process against the Sena chief, he told mediapersons.

“I have done my job of okaying their request. Now it is up to the police to take action”, Mr Bhujbal, who also holds the Home portfolio, said.

The police had registered cases against Mr Thackeray for his editorials in “Saamna”. However, the then Congress government led by Mr Sharad Pawar and later the Sena-BJP’s government had not accorded sanction for the prosecution under the Section.

Bhujbal, during the Budget session of the state legislature, had announced that law would be same for Mr Thackeray or Mr Abu Asim Azmi, the city unit chief of the Samajwadi Party (SP), against whom the Sena-BJP opposition had demanded action for his (Azmi’s) reported anti-national statements.

The police had been asked to take action against Mr Azmi under Section 153 (A) for his reported statements, Mr Bhujbal said.

Shiv Sena activists took to the streets soon after the government okayed action against the party supremo.

In an immediate response to the government move, Sena activists forced shopowners to down shutters in several parts of the city, the police said.

Traffic in Sena-dominated areas like Dadar, Parel and Lalbaug in central suburbs and Malad, Andheri, Borivali and Goregoan in western suburbs came to a halt, the police said.

Reacting to the government’s nod for police action against him, Mr Thackeray said: “If a revengeful attitude will form the basis of governance in the state, then be prepared to face the consequences. If this leads to the spread of a poisonous state of affairs in the state, then the entire responsibility would be laid on the shoulders of Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal”.