Mumbai:
The Shiv Sena - widely criticised for its lawmakers forcing a roti into the mouth of a fasting Muslim man - has issued an aggressive rebuttal in its magazine, Saamna.
Alleging that its lawmakers were served "rotis which are like rubber," the Saamna suggests that the Maharashtra chief minister and other officials should be force-fed such rotis.
It accuses the Congress-led state government of giving a "political and religious twist" to what the Sena calls its protest against poor food and "pathetic living conditions" in the state government's guest house in Delhi. And warns, "It will be history if Maharashtrians are insulted in Delhi. Shiv Sena will never tolerate this. This is not just anger, it is a movement."
In camera footage that has sparked outrage, Rajan Vichare, a Sena MP is seen shoving a roti into the mouth of a catering supervisor at the New Maharashtra Sadan on Thursday last. The man, Arshad Zubair, was fasting for Ramzan.
In Saamna, the Shiv Sena's mouthpiece "so much hullabaloo on our going and telling the canteen incharge 'please eat what we have been given to eat'."
Like Mr Vichare, the Sena claims that its lawmakers had no idea that the supervisor was a Muslim man and was fasting. "It wasn't written on his head from which religion or region he belongs to," says the editorial.
Uddhav Thackeray said yesterday, "There was no intent to hurt religious sentiments... now it appears the Sena's version is being suppressed."
The Sena's version in its magazine today says, "Shiv Sena respects all caste and religion and that's our culture. Until someone tries to show off their religion unnecessarily, we have nothing to do with their religion."
Other parties have demanded an apology from the Sena, which is a member of the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre. There have also been demands that criminal cases be registered against the Sena MPs linked to the controversy.