The NCP, which is currently at the helm of affairs in Maharashtra in an alliance with the Congress and Shiv Sena had, no less than its patriarch – Sharad Pawar schooling Sachin Tendulkar about how he should go about his life. Pawar took to telling Sachin as to what he should say in public.
Sharad Pawar ‘advised’ Sachin Tendulkar to exercise caution while speaking about any other field as many people have reacted sharply to the stand taken by Indian celebrities on farmers’ protests. This was in response to the cricket legend and Bharat Ratna Tendulkar putting out a tweet supporting India against the global propaganda campaign being waged against it.
However, Sharad Pawar’s own backyard is on fire, and the man, his party or his alliance partners could not care less. Instead, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Maharashtra and its Home Minister Anil Deshmukh are more interested in going after pro-India celebrities, for how dare anyone to defend their country under the rule of Uddhav Thackeray? In line with the same, reports suggest that the Maharashtra government has ordered a probe into Sachin Tendulkar and other celebrities for tweeting in support of India, allegedly at the behest of the BJP.
This, at a time when the kidnapping culture of Maharashtra seems to be coming back to life. A 26-year-old Navy sailor was abducted from Chennai on January 30 and set on fire by his kidnappers in the jungles of Maharashtra’s Palghar district, resulting in him succumbing to grievous injuries. Suraj Kumar Dubey, the victim, died on Friday while he was being shifted to a hospital in Mumbai, the News Minute reported. The kidnappers demanded Rs. 10 lakhs as ransom from the victim’s family, and upon being refused the same, set the man of fire out of sheer frustration and anger.
Has Sharad Pawar spoken upon the subject of a navy sailor being burnt alive in Palghar – a region already infamous for mob lynching of Hindu sadhus and Naxal-missionary infestation? Of course not. These are not important matters for anyone in the Maharashtra government to take out time to comment on. Instead, they are more focused on hounding patriotic citizens who according to them, appear to toe the line of the BJP.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra seems to be emerging as the new West Bengal. A local BJP leader was reportedly beaten up by Shiv Sena workers on Saturday over ‘objectionable statements’ against Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. The assaulters blackened the face of the victim Shirish Katekar, and paraded him on the streets of Pandharpur, even as a hapless police force watched helplessly. This shameful incident only adds to the list of intolerant activities undertaken by Sena workers against political opponents and civilians, whether it be tonsuring of heads or beating the elderly black and blue in broad daylight. Yet the same incident was never accounted for by Sharad Pawar.
Sharad Pawar has maintained a stony silence on such issues, but when it comes to Sachin Tendulkar standing by India, oh boy – the NCP is up in arms!