Congress, NCP and Samajwadi Party today slammed as "unpardonable" and "uncultured" the alleged act of Shiv Sena MPs forcing a Muslim catering supervisor to break his Ramzan fast, while Sena ally BJP termed the incident at Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi as "unfortunate".
"We are deeply hurt by the unfortunate incident that took place in Maharashtra Sadan. The MPs should ensure they maintain a decent character in public life, which would keep their dignity intact in front of the masses," BJP's national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Hussain, who was here to attend an iftar party organised by Mumbai BJP, said that if the MPs had any complaints about the food, they should have either approached the IRCTC officials or the railway minister himself.
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"There was no need for them to vent their anger on a catering employee," he said.
But the BJP leader also said that the incident should not be politicised. "The MP who was involved in the incident has regretted his actions. While we believe that the incident was very unfortunate, it should not be politicised which is equally unfortunate," Hussain said.
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray while terming the incident as an attempt to "silence" the party's voice, said that his party had no hatred of other religions.
"This (uproar over the incident) is an attempt to silence Shiv Sena's voice. We are proponents of Hindutva but we don't have hatred of other religions," Uddhav said.
Congress leader and former Mumbai MP Milind Deora described the incident as "unpardonable", and said this kind of "vigilante justice" would be on display for the next five years.
Congress' ally NCP also reacted strongly, condemning the Sena MPs and demanding their arrest.
"Union home minister should ensure that a criminal case is lodged and the guilty are arrested," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said here.
Maharashtra unit of the Samajwadi Party also criticised the incident.
