Like Dhritarashtra, the government is also blind: Uddhav Thackeray on Manipur

Talking about the disturbing video of the May 4 sexual violence incident in Manipur, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, taking aim at the BJP government said it is also “blind like King Dhritarashtra” of Hindu epic Mahabharata.

Talking about the disturbing video of the May 4 sexual violence incident in Manipur, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, taking aim at the BJP government said it is also “blind like King Dhritarashtra” of Hindu epic Mahabharata.

Mr. Thackeray said on Saturday, “Manipur is burning and what is the government doing about it? In Mahabharata, Draupadi was disrobed in front of Dhritarashtra, but he couldn’t do anything because he was blind. Just like him, the government [BJP-led] is also blind.”

“We got to know about those two women because of a video and Manipur’s Chief Minister said ‘such incidents take place a lot in Manipur’... That is shameful!” Mr. Thackeray said.

He was in Thane speaking at a meeting of the North Indian community at Rangayatan. He said Lord Krishna had come to protect Draupadi from the cheer-haran (disrobing), but no one will come to save women today. The former Chief Minister of Maharashtra then quoted the poem Suno Draupadi Shashtra Utha Lo (Listen Draupadi, arm yourself) by Pushyamitra Upadhyay.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Thackeray said the PM does not care about Manipuris, but only about building a Ram Temple. He needs to realise that “the Ram Temple is being built because of the order of the Supreme Court and not because of him”.

Referring to the PM comparing the coming together of all Opposition parties with a terrorist organisation, Mr. Thackeray said, “The PM said INDIA [Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance] is Indian Mujahideen. When he comes to Mumbai, I am going to tell him, you have joined hands with those who have corruption charges on them, this is your Hindutva. I want to remind him, when you go abroad, you represent our country INDIA, not Indian Mujahideen.”

In the meeting that was held at Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s bastion, the Sena leader said, “Many think Thane belongs to them, but no. Thane and Shiv Sena have an old relationship. I mean the ‘real’ Shiv Sena. By ‘real’, I mean that in the market nowadays there are many Chinese products. There are many items that are fake, false and bogus.”