MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday flagged what it described as the rise of a “new breed” of Hindutva proponents in Maharashtra whose outrage, it alleged, is guided more by political convenience than consistent moral standards.
In an editorial published in party mouthpiece Saamana, the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray-led faction referred to the recent discourse in Nashik surrounding allegations of “Corporate Jihad”, wherein Muslim employees of a multinational IT firm were accused of luring Hindu women with job offers, subjecting them to sexual exploitation and allegedly pressuring them into religious conversion.
The editorial mentions that political figures associated with the BJP, including party minister Nitesh Rane and legislator Gopichand Padalkar, have led aggressive protests, noting that while the outrage against such exploitation is justified, the political framing of the issue has been intense, with leaders delivering fiery speeches on the "terrifying" nature of Love Jihad in the region.
The editorial sharply critiques the "shameless" inconsistency of these political groups. While they demand Special Investigation Teams (SITs) for probe and organise mass marches when an accused is a Muslim, they have reportedly ignored the harrowing actions of sexual exploitation by local figures, including self-styled godman Ashok Kharat and NGO operator Ravindra Erande from Nashik.