Pahalgam attack exposes BJP’s nationalism: Uddhav Thackeray’s Saamana

Mumbai: Shiv Sena(UBT) in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ editorial on Tuesday slammed the BJP, alleging that the Pahalgam terror attack has exposed its nationalism.

It said that even after 26 deaths in Kashmir, the Prime Minister of a country participates in election campaigning in Bihar within 24 hours and gives warnings to Pakistan from there, their nationality is hypocrisy and a sham.”

“The hypocrisy of patriotism that has increased during the BJP era has eroded the very foundation of nationalism in the country. In the name of nationalism, many ‘armies’ and ‘organisations’ have been formed in the country and are wreaking havoc in the name of religion. These brave men should also be sent to Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi to fight the enemy like Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna. Indian soldiers are working in Kashmir and on the border in extremely difficult conditions. However, they are also being dragged into India’s dirty politics. Even when 40 soldiers were killed in Pulwama, they did not take revenge on the Pakistanis, but only played politics, and now they are only swallowing the steam from their mouths in the case of Pahalgam,” said the editorial titled ‘Their Nationalism’ written in Marathi.

It is quite ironic that the ruling party started questioning the nationalism and patriotism of others. “Words like ‘nationalism’ do not suit those who do business with people like Dawood Ibrahim and Iqbal Mirchi and give them a place in their party. Their patriotism never shows its face until Pakistan attacks and kills five or twenty-five of our Hindus,” claims the Thackeray camp.

“Uri, Pathankot, Pulwama, and now Pahalgam attacks are vivid examples of this. When these attacks took place and our soldiers and civilians were killed, the talk revives of teaching the enemies a lesson. They have been in power for 10 years. So, what have they done in these 10 years to control the enemies? And even now, it should be kept in mind that the BJP’s shouting brigade will not show bravery by going to the border to take revenge on the Pakistanis. If we stop the water of the Indus River, Pakistan will die without water, but this ‘water bomb’ cannot be dropped so easily, and big dams will have to be built to stop the water of the Indus,” said the editorial.

“They have also made a fuss that they will not play cricket with Pakistan, but a couple of months ago, when a World Cup was held in Dubai, Jay Shah, the son of Midhe (Eknath Shinde) from Maharashtra, the sons of other ministers, BJP leaders sat next to the sheikhs in Dubai and tossed the Pakistani players aside. “Didn’t the country see that they were ‘stirring up’ nationalism in the Pakistan-India cricket match?” asked the Shiv Sena in the editorial.

“The Hinduhruday Samrat Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray had warned that ‘India-Pakistan cricket will not happen, will not be allowed to happen’, and the Pakistanis were worried. ‘You are trying to destroy our Hindus in Kashmir, and India will play cricket with those who destroy our Hindus,’ was the stance of the Shiv Sena chief at that time. However, the ‘BJP’ family rushed to Mumbai to persuade Balasaheb. ‘Sir, don’t bring religion and sports into politics. We have to maintain diplomatic relations. Be patient,’ those who advocated during the time are now closing the Pakistani embassy in Delhi and saying that we should not play cricket with them,” said the editorial.

“Jai Shah is currently in Dubai. Like him, many ‘patriot’ BJP workers’ sons are in Dubai, Singapore, Mauritius to do business and earn money from loot in India, and from there they are protesting the attack in Kashmir. They are saying to teach Pakistan a lesson. Oh, great patriots, if patriotism were so much on the rise, then why did they leave their homeland and go abroad? Just as Veer Savarkar’s heart yearned for the motherland, does your heart yearn or tremble only when India is attacked? Should the sons of India and the sons of BJP workers who died for the country live a happy and safe life abroad?” asked the Thackeray camp.

“We demand that the Indian government show love and affection for the country. The face of patriotism has already started to falter, so do one thing, out of the brave heroes in the BJP and the Sangh Parivar whose arms and wrists are fluttering today and who are spreading the lie about ‘fighting a war’, announce a list of how many of them have married foreign wives and how many of their children have settled permanently in foreign lands for jobs, how many of them have estates abroad. Not only this, make a law that those whose children are abroad and whose wives are foreigners will not be able to hold positions of power in India. Call all these children from abroad, give them compulsory military training and send them to the border. Then they will know that patriotism is not just a bubble of words,” said the editorial.

“Prime Minister Modi is a balloon of patriotism, and Home Minister Amit Shah is a wax statue that melts every day. We envy those who call him ‘Iron Man’. After the Pulwama and Pahalgam incidents, Modi-Shah have no moral right to remain in power. Amit Shah is the most failed Home Minister. It is a threat to the country for a man with a scheming, commercial mindset to sit in the sensitive post of Home Minister, and it is a national crime to appoint such a person to that post. The country is paying the price for this crime,” said the editorial.

IANS