Thackeray hits out at Tendulkar for "Mumbai for all" remark

Mumbai/New Delhi, Nov 16 (PTI) Indian cricketer Sachin
Tendulkar was Monday in the midst of an avoidable controversy
with Bal Thackeray accusing the cricket icon of hurting
Marathi sentiments with his "Mumbai for all" remark, evoking
an angry reaction from Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) which sought action against the Shiv Sena chief.

"There was no need for him (Sachin) to take a cheeky
single by making such remarks," Thackeray said in the Sena
mouthpiece 'Sammana'.
"By making these remarks, you have got run-out on the
pitch of Marathi psyche. You were not even born when the
'Marathi Manoos' got Mumbai and 105 Marathi people sacrificed
their lives to get Mumbai," he said.
Thackeray said Tendulkar "left the crease and moved to the
pitch of politics by making these remarks which have hurt
Marathis."
To this, BCCI Spokesperson Rajiv Shukla said in Indian
national capital New Delhi, "This is the same language that
Mohammed Ali Jinnah spoke. The whole of India and all
Maharashtrians excluding a few Shiv Sena leaders and leaders
of Raj Thackeray's party are with Tendulkar".
"These kind of comments are completely uncalled for. Shiv
Sena people have no business to talk like this. Tendulkar is a
nationalist. He is for Maharashtra, he is for India. If
somebody calls himself an Indian, is it a crime?" he retorted.
In an interaction with the media on completing 20 years
in international cricket, Tendulkar had said, "I am a
Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that. But I am an
Indian first. And Mumbai belongs to all Indians."
"You were not even born when the 'Marathi Manoos' got
Mumbai and 105 Marathi people sacrificed their lives to get
Mumbai," Thackeray said. MORE PTI VT
ANU


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