Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Oct 13: The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Tuesday accused the Central and state leadership of creating a civil war-like and anarchic situation in the country, alleging police brutality against student protesters, youth and women in Delhi and Mumbai.
In an editorial published in its party mouthpiece Saamana, the Uddhav Thackeray-led camp condemned the alleged high-handedness of police against peaceful protesters and sharply criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for their "silence and apathy".
The editorial said the country was witnessing an atmosphere resembling a civil war, with Delhi turning into a massive police station where children and young women were allegedly being beaten. It claimed that despite Supreme Court directives against the use of batons on protesters in the absence of rioting, police personnel in Delhi and Mumbai had used excessive force against peaceful satyagrahis.
In Delhi, women protesters and journalists allegedly faced ruthless treatment, with accusations that male police personnel molested and manhandled them. Prominent political figures, including MP John Brittas, CPI General Secretary M.A. Baby and Kerala Opposition leader P. Vijayan, were allegedly dragged, beaten and forced into prison vans while participating in a peaceful satyagraha, the editorial said.
It further alleged that similar tactics were adopted in Mumbai, where students, including several female college students staging a satyagraha near Shivaji Park, were dragged and forced into police vans.
The Uddhav Sena accused Shah of "crushing" Supreme Court orders and unleashing brute force against peaceful protesters, claiming that such actions were fuelling public anger against the Prime Minister.
The editorial criticised Modi for visiting Chennai to review metro presentations and deliver lectures on development while remaining silent on the unrest and alleged police excesses.
It also accused Shah of remaining behind armed security personnel while ignoring public protests and police crackdowns, and instead celebrating the BJP's by-election victories in states such as West Bengal and Puducherry by distributing sweets through social media.
The editorial launched a scathing attack on prominent award-winning personalities, including recipients of the Bharat Ratna, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi awards, as well as film and theatre celebrities. It compared their silence on the alleged police excesses to that of submissive artists dancing to the tune of those in power.
Drawing parallels with the silence of intellectuals and artists during the regimes of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, the editorial quoted writer Harishankar Parsai as saying that the country's intellectuals were "nominal tigers who merely play band in a jackal's wedding".
"While actors and public figures deliver heavy dialogues on screen, they zip their mouths when the nation faces a crisis, acting as beneficiaries of the government just like beneficiaries of welfare schemes," the editorial claimed.
In contrast, the Thackeray camp praised actor Prakash Raj, actor Naseeruddin Shah, MP Jaya Bachchan and former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar for speaking out against alleged police high-handedness, describing their stand as reflecting the true spirit of nationalism.
The editorial warned that treating celebrities who remained silent during the current crisis as neutral when the political situation changed would amount to a betrayal of the youth allegedly facing police oppression and fighting against dictatorship.
It concluded by declaring that "intellectuals who silently watch such atrocities are enemies of society and of no use to the nation".