File photo of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray
On a day Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appealed for calm and restraint, and asked people to engage in "debate, not vandalism", nine more people have been arrested by the Mumbai Police. The arrests come after activists of the Shiv Sena entered the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters in Mumbai, forcefully to disrupt a meeting between BCCI and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials on Monday.
10 Shiv Sainiks were arrested for the attack yesterday and released on bail within hours.
"In connection with the political demonstration in Mumbai the police have made arrests and produced the accused in court. The accused have been granted bail. We are investigating the case and all the accused will face the law," said Mumbai Police's Dhananjay Kulkarni.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena says it will continue its protests against cultural ties with Pakistan. Today, the party said it would not allow Pakistani actors Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan to promote their upcoming films in Mumbai.
"We have taken a stand not to allow any Pakistani actor, cricketer or performer to step on Maharashtra's soil," said Akshay Bardapurkar, the head of the Chitrapat Sena, a wing of Shiv Sena.
The Shiv Sena's politics of intimidation has strained ties between the party and its ally BJP. The Sena is part of the BJP-led Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra and the chief minister has said that the Sena's actions have brought a bad name to the state. Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray is expected to respond to the charges of intolerance and intimidation, when he speaks at the party's annual Dusshera rally on Thursday.