Talking point: Is there an end to Sena hooliganism?

EXPERTS TALK: Panelists feel it is time when the society and media should unite against Shiv Sena.

      

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On Friday, goons of the Shiv Sena attacked IBN Network offices in Mumbai and Pune. Around 20-25 Sena activists barged into the office at Vikhroli carrying iron rods and baseball bats, slapped the receptionist and started beating up journalists, including women.

IBN Lokmat's Editor-in-Chief Nikhil Wagle was also assaulted. The second attack on IBN's office in Pune came within an hour of the first one in Mumbai. The Shiv Sena has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The question that was being asked on CNN-IBN's Talking Point was: Can anything be done to stop the Shiv Sena? Will civil society stand up, what will the state do?

To try and answer the question on the panel of experts were Editor Loksatta, Kumar Ketkar; Editor-in-Chief Hindu, N Ram; Congress Spokesperson Manish Tiwari; BJP spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh and Shiv Sena Legal Head, Rahul Narvekar.

CNN-IBN: Your first reactions Mr N Ram, when you heard about yet another attack brazenly on a newspaper and this time on a news channel office.

N Ram: This is extremely grave. Between the Sena and the MNS, each is more outrageous than the other. We really have to push forward and get to the bottom of this. Governments in Maharashtra have traditionally appeased the Sena with whatever rationalisation.

This time, I think we got to hold them to account – the state government as much as these goons and their leaders and you have to go right to where the orders came from. The media can ensure it if we form a network all over the country and bring them to account. Speaking for the Hindu and myself, we will take this extremely seriously. But we need unity among the media to counter any appeasement.

I would say that this is a case for the CBI. I do not have enough confidence in the capabilities of the state government to bring these goons and those who gave the orders to justice.

CNN-IBN: Kumar Ketkar, you have actually had to face these goons in more than one occasion. Your house was attacked by a group claiming that it stood by Maratha pride because you wrote against the Shivaji statue issue. Do you believe that actually we will see action and do you believe that the ring leaders will be caught? What do you think why is it happening again and again in Mumbai?

Kumar Ketkar: So far, the Maharashtra Home Ministry and the Mumbai Police have been extremely lenient towards such actions and they have been going on and on. The Shiv Sena, MNS and many other groups have been emboldened to carry out such attacks on the media – individually and directly. As a result what has happened is that more and more groups feel that no action has been taken and that they can carry on with their hooliganism and vandalism. This kind of tendency started with Shiv Sena about 40 years ago.

The first political murder of an elected representative in the country was carried out by the Shiv Sena in 1970 of comrade Krishna Desai. Ever since, the Shiv Sena has been indulging in such acts and after Shiv Sena split, its followers in the MNS are also carrying out such acts.

Unless the government comes very heavily and take tough action against them, and the civil society, media and all political parties come together, this won’t stop. Unfortunately, many political parties have a stake in such kinds of attacks. They connive because they too carry out similar attacks in official areas or in metropolitan areas on the media, and therefore, they have some kind of justification in trying to be lenient as because you must have seen even after the Assembly attack, there have been statements by the ruling parties as well the Opposition that they (MNS) should be forgiven. No excuse should be given at all to any kind of vandalism, hooliganism, be it against media or against any institution of the state.