Shiv Sena blames ‘fake Hindutvawadis’ for Amravati violence

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the country faces danger from “fake Hindutvawadis” who create Hindu-Muslim tensions and use Pakistan to win elections

Maharashtra’s ruling Shiv Sena has blamed “fake Hindutvawadis” for the violence in Amravati, saying the communal tensions were stoked for political mileage ahead of next year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

A file photo of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut at a press conference in Mumbai. Shiv Sena has blamed ‘fake Hindutvawadis’ for the Amravati violence in Maharashtra. (ANI/File)

Mob violence erupted in Amravati on Saturday after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called for a bandh to protest against a violent bandh organised on Friday against communal violence in Tripura. Former minister and BJP leader Anil Bonde were among those arrested for the violence that broke out on Saturday and later released on bail.

Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the country faces real danger from “fake Hindutvawadis”, who create Hindu-Muslim tensions and use Pakistan to win elections. “If you heard [chief minister] Uddhav [Thackery]’s speech on Dussehra, he said that the real danger that the country faces is from the fake Hindutvawadi. These people bring up Hindu-Muslim issues when elections are around the corner. They come up with India-Pakistan issues during elections. They intend communal tension so that they can win elections. Everyone knows who these people are,” Raut said.

In an editorial published in its mouthpiece Saamana on the ninth death anniversary of the Sena founder Bal Thackeray on Wednesday, the party said the bandh called by Raza Academy in Amravati to protest against the violence in Tripura was unwarranted. It downplayed its role saying it did not have the organisational capability to indulge in stone pelting.

“Violence was carried out. Raza Academy is an organisation that is limited to distributing pamphlets. They do not have the strength to indulge in violence and stone pelting. Even then, it was not correct to give a bandh call in Maharashtra owing to the incident in Tripura. Fake Hindutvawadis burnt Amravati taking advantage of the bandh,” the editorial said.

The Saamana said Bal Thackeray brought Hindus together and added that had he been alive, the “fringe outfit” would not have dared to call a bandh and the masks of “fake Hindutvawadis” would have come off. “There is an attempt to instigate Hindu-Muslim riots to win the Uttar Pradesh election. Keep your politics to your state. Why did you burn Maharashtra for this? The Shiv Sena founder would have asked this question,” the editorial added.

The Sena mouthpiece said Bal Thackeray gave a structure to the scattered values of Hindutva. “Some cowards entered this structure and are now giving lectures to us on Hindutva.”

As a policy, the Maharashtra unit of the BJP does not respond to criticism or remarks in Saamana editorials.