Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray on Wednesday criticized the BJP-led central government and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the central government. He targeted the central government over the Bangladesh cricket team’s tour of India. Shiv Sena (UBT) had earlier raised the issue of how the Hindu community was attacked in Bangladesh.
Thackeray posted on ‘X’ that the Bangladesh cricket team is on a tour of India and the BCCI is rolling out the red carpet for them. “I want to know from the Ministry of External Affairs whether the news being circulated on social media and some media fronts that atrocities have been committed on Hindus is true and if it is true, then who is pressurising the central government to allow their visit,” he said.
Aditya Thackeray asked, “If Hindus are being tortured in Bangladesh, why is the BJP-led government allowing the Bangladesh cricket team to tour India?” He also asked if the reports of atrocities on Hindus are fake, then is it a ploy of the BJP to spread hatred between communities to win elections. The BJP is attacking the Shiv Sena after its alliance with the Congress and NCP (Sharad Pawar) and is alleging that the Shiv Sena (UBT) won seats in the Lok Sabha elections only because of Muslim votes.
Aditya Thackeray’s grandfather and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray has always been against cricket with Pakistan. Many cricket tours with Pakistan were cancelled due to his protest. In 1991, after his threat of not allowing an India-Pakistan match, a Shiv Sena functionary Shishir Shinde dug up the pitch at the Wankhede stadium to prevent the match from taking place. In October 2015, Shiv Sena workers barged into the BCCI office and protested against the meeting of then BCCI chief Shashank Manohar with Pakistan Cricket Board president Shaharyar Khan to discuss a bilateral series between India and Pakistan.