Maha govt downplays Thackeray threat

Maharahstra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan downplayed Shiv Sena’s threat not to allow Australian players to play in the IPL matches in the state. “Everyone in Maharashtra is safe, provided they have come here legally. I don’t see the need to respond to these questions every day. If teams have concerns we will speak to them and provide whatever is required,” Chavan said. Chavan told reporters that the state government was well prepared to provide the adequate security.

Chavan’s statement is significant, especially when the Australian cricketers of the Deccan Chargers franchise on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra government to guarantee their security in the wake of Shiv Sena threats and an assurance was quick to come.

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday reiterated his party’s stand that Australian players would not be allowed to play matches in Maharashtra. This, Thackeray said was in retaliation against attacks on Indians in Australia. Australian players from the Deccan Chargers are worried about Thackeray’s statement.

In all, 13 matches are scheduled to be played in Maharashtra and there are 20 Australian players across seven teams. The Mumbai team is an exception as it does not have a single Australian player. Thackeray stuck to his stand although the Union home minister and then Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar called upon the former on this issue. Pawar, who had met Thackeray with BCCI chief Shashank Manohar on February 7, had argued that Thackeray should not mix politics with sports. However, Pawar’s sudden move had irked his party’s electoral ally, the ruling Congress party and also Chavan, who had openly expressed their disappointment. Pawar’s meeting took place when the controversy over My Name Is Khan was at its peak.

Chavan, who outsmart Thackeray by showing his government’s firm stand on the release of Shahrukh Khan’s My Name Is Khan last week in Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra despite threat from Thackeray, has already indicated that his government would do everything possible to maintain law and order and it would not further tolerate Shiv Sena’s hooliganism and vandalism. Meanwhile, former Shiv Sena leader and the state revenue minister Narayan Rane also ridiculed Thackeray’s threat and said that how the Shiv Sena would stop others when they cannot protect themselves.