When Shiv Sainiks beat up Balasaheb Thackeray’s own legacy

As the Shiv Sena resorts to violence against those who are exercising their freedoms in a democratic country, perhaps it would be only befitting to remind the erstwhile nationalistic party about who their founder was. Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder and patriarch of Shiv Sena was himself a renowned cartoonist who through his art connected with the common Marathi Manus. On Friday, goons of Shiv Sena, reportedly led by Sena leader Kamlesh Kadam, assaulted a 62-year old retired Indian Navy officer over a cartoon shared about Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

On Friday, Madan Sharma, an Indian Navy veteran was physically assaulted by goons led by Kamlesh Kadam. What triggered the violence against the man who protected India’s seas for a large part of his life was a WhatsApp forward on Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thakeray. The entire incident was recorded on a CCTV camera. The incident took place in Lokhandwala Complex area in suburban Kandivali. As a result of the assault, Madan Sharma sustained a severe eye injury.

“Eight to ten persons attacked and beat me up today after I received threatening calls for a message that I had forwarded. I have worked for the nation my entire life. A government like this should not exist,” the victim of Sena’s unlawful and shameful crackdown on free speech was quoted as saying by ANI. Meanwhile, all six Shiv Sena goons arrested on grounds of causing grievous injury and rioting have been released on bail today.

The Shiv Sena, ever since its ties with the BJP were broken, has been showing its true colours in the state of Maharashtra. The latest violence against a retired navy officer only because he shared a WhatsApp forward on Uddhav goes on to show how today’s Shiv Sena is committed to ensure that it drags the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray down the drain. Bal Thackeray spoke truth to power with his unapologetic cartoons, some of which the Free Press Journal shared on Twitter.

It is shocking how the party led by the son of such an artist has decided to stifle the free speech of a citizen, by no less behaving in an intrusive manner. The Shiv Sena has displayed no respect for privacy, while abundantly putting on exhibition its hatred for those who do so much as dare speak against the current Chief Minister in the state.