Around 100 Shiv Sena activists on Monday audaciously barged into BCCI headquarters in Mumbai and warned Board president Shahshank Manohar of talking to his Pakistan counterpart on the issue of resumption of bilateral matches.
BCCI officials were apparently taken by surprise as the Shiv Sainiks stormed the cricket headquarters located at the Wankhede Stadium. They even reached Manohar’s chamber when he was talking to IPL COO Sundar Raman, sitting in front of him.
Khan and Najan Sethi, his fellow member on the PCB Board of Governors, were to meet Manohar and other BCCI officials on the resumption of the stalled bilateral series. The series is scheduled in December in the UAE.
While the PCB is keen to play, the BCCI cannot go ahead and play without the central government’s permission.
The Manohar-Khan-Sethi meeting was to be held at the BCCI headquarters, but after the protests it might take place elsewhere. Rajeev Shukla, IPL governing council chairman, said that the meeting would “indeed” be held, though it might be deferred a bit.
When www.jantakareporter.com tried to contact Shahryar Khan at a five-star hotel in Mumbai, the person who picked up the phone in his room said the PCB chairman was “busy in a meeting. He would be free in an hour.”
After the Shiv Sainiks barged into the BCCI offices, more police force was summoned. The police detained more than two dozen activists and whisked them away.
In the visuals, Manohar looked calm and unperturbed, even as his BCCI colleagues reached his chamber and gave him assurance of not worrying. A top lawyer, Manohar, looked in complete control of himself and didn’t even get up from his reclining chair as the Shiv Sainiks threateningly displayed placards reading slogans like ‘Pakistan Murdabad’ etc.
Sena activists shouted anti-Pakistan slogans after crashing through the main gate of the Wankhede Stadium.
Shiv Sena rules the Maharashtra state in alliance with the BJP, but the coalition currently looks far from comfortable, especially after some recent events.
These events included protests over the launch of former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s book. Also, the Shiv Sainiks protested over organising a programme by legendary Pakistan ghazal singer Ghulam Ali. The cultural programme was cancelled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQcalnMg9_s&feature=youtu.be