Blackwater
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MUMBAI: Uncertainty hangs over the final World Cup match as the Shiv Sena has hinted that it might not allow Pakistan to play in the city. The final World Cup match is scheduled for April 2 in Mumbai.
Senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi has said that party supremo Bal Thackeray will take the call on whether or not to allow the Pakistan team to play in Mumbai's soil. "Balasaheb will decide whether the team will play in Mumbai. Once he gives the aadesh, who can flout it. But we will have to see if Pakistan reaches the final,'' Joshi asked.
Stating that the Sena has always been opposed to Pakistan cricketers playing in Mumbai, Joshi said, ''The Shiv Sainiks have faithfully carried out Balasaheb's 'aadesh' in the past. Now he will decide on the issue.''
The Sena leader further added, ''In the first place Pakistan will not enter the semi-finals. However, should this happen, Balasaheb will decide whether the Pak team can play on the Mumbai soil or not.'' Joshi's statement is crucial as he is seen as the Sena patriarch's close lieutenant.
Issuing a fatwa against the Pakistan cricket team is not as easy a task for the Sena as it was in the 1990s, say experts. First, the party has lost much of its sheen over the last decade in the wake of intra-party revolts and two successive defeats in the assembly elections.
Second, the party has been undergoing a generational shift and the post-2000 Marathi voters are not quite keen on paying heed to Matoshree's anti-Paki diatribe. Most importantly, under Aditya Thackeray, Balasaheb's grand son and the Sena's latest poster-boy, the Sena is set to shed its parochial image, say party watchers. "Yet, Matoshree may briefly flex its muscles, in an attempt to restore its clout in Mumbai ahead of the 2012 civic polls, only to be pacified later by ICC chief Sharad Pawar," an expert said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...am-can-play-in-Mumbai/articleshow/7518428.cms
Senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi has said that party supremo Bal Thackeray will take the call on whether or not to allow the Pakistan team to play in Mumbai's soil. "Balasaheb will decide whether the team will play in Mumbai. Once he gives the aadesh, who can flout it. But we will have to see if Pakistan reaches the final,'' Joshi asked.
Stating that the Sena has always been opposed to Pakistan cricketers playing in Mumbai, Joshi said, ''The Shiv Sainiks have faithfully carried out Balasaheb's 'aadesh' in the past. Now he will decide on the issue.''
The Sena leader further added, ''In the first place Pakistan will not enter the semi-finals. However, should this happen, Balasaheb will decide whether the Pak team can play on the Mumbai soil or not.'' Joshi's statement is crucial as he is seen as the Sena patriarch's close lieutenant.
Issuing a fatwa against the Pakistan cricket team is not as easy a task for the Sena as it was in the 1990s, say experts. First, the party has lost much of its sheen over the last decade in the wake of intra-party revolts and two successive defeats in the assembly elections.
Second, the party has been undergoing a generational shift and the post-2000 Marathi voters are not quite keen on paying heed to Matoshree's anti-Paki diatribe. Most importantly, under Aditya Thackeray, Balasaheb's grand son and the Sena's latest poster-boy, the Sena is set to shed its parochial image, say party watchers. "Yet, Matoshree may briefly flex its muscles, in an attempt to restore its clout in Mumbai ahead of the 2012 civic polls, only to be pacified later by ICC chief Sharad Pawar," an expert said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...am-can-play-in-Mumbai/articleshow/7518428.cms
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