The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has on Thursday slammed Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena after its leader Nitin Nandgaonkar ordered the owner of a sweets shop in Bandra, Karachi Sweets, to rename it to something in Marathi. A video of it has gone viral on social media.
Nitin Nandgaonkar shared the video on his Facebook account. “You stay in Mumbai and keep the name (of the shop) Karachi. You came after partition, you are welcome and can do your business. But don’t keep the name Karachi. We hate the word Karachi as the place harbours terrorists in Pakistan,” said Nandgaonkar in the video.
“We are giving you time to change the name. You can name the shop after anything you want. You can name it after your ancestors, but not Karachi. Write the name in Marathi, and change it on the signboard as well as the shop registration papers,” he added.
Slamming the Shiv Sena, AAP took to Twitter and said, "Karachi is the capital of the Pakistani province of Sindh. Does @ShivSena want to remove the word 'Sindh' from the National anthem? Ridiculous!!"
"Mumbai is in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and this is the last thing that the city needs. The Shiv Sena has been projecting an image as a progressive party, in the light of its alliance with Congress and NCP as part of the MVA Govt, but incidents like these, are testimony to the fact, that a dog's tail doesn’t straighten up automatically due to a sudden moral impulse," AAP said in a statement.
The party also demanded an apology from Nitin Nandgaonkar and has asked the Mumbai Police to take cognizance and act as per law.
"Nitin Nandgaonkar must apologize immediately. Mumbai police should take cognizance and act as per law. The Shiv Sena leadership resorting to this vigilantism during a pandemic speaks volumes of its own misplaced priorities," said AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon.
"This is ridiculous goondagardi by @ShivSena! Despite being the Chief Minster @OfficeofUT is not able to instill a respect for democracy in his cadre. I stand with #KarachiSweets," Menon tweeted.
