Observer Research Foundation (ORF) chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni on Monday expressed his disappointment with the Shiv Sena's rigid stand on cancelling former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book launch event and said that it was an insult to the spirit of Indian democracy.
"Today morning when I left from my home, my car was stopped right outside my house by the Shiv Sena workers. They asked me to step out. The moment I stepped out, they held me and started shouting slogans against me, abused me, called me anti-national," Kulkarni told the media here.
"They said, 'we had ordered you to cancel today's programme. You didn't. So now you will have to pay for it'. After this, they held me and threw black oil paint on me," he added.
Kulkarni further said that he was not worried about what had happened.
"I will not be scared. But I want to say that whatever has happened is an insult to the spirit of the national flag and India's democracy. This shouldn't have happened," Kulkarni said.
"I have heard that this was a mild way of protest and something bigger than this could also happen. I just want to say that I am ready," he added.
The incident happened ahead of a book launch of former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri being organised by ORF.