Shinde Faction Slams Uddhav Over Protest Against India-Pakistan Cricket Match
Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Uddhav Thackeray for opposing India’s participation in the Asia Cup 2025 cricket match against Pakistan.
Mumbai: The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Uddhav Thackeray for opposing India’s participation in the Asia Cup 2025 cricket match against Pakistan. The criticism came after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) staged a protest in Mumbai, linking the match to the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, which was allegedly sponsored by Pakistan.
Shiv Sena spokesperson and Lok Sabha MP Naresh Mhaske questioned Mr. Thackeray’s credibility on matters of national security, claiming the former Chief Minister was on a tour of Europe during the Pahalgam attack. “Where were they when innocent people were killed in the Pahalgam attack?” Mhaske asked, alleging that Mr. Thackeray and his family did not visit the victims’ families even in Dombivli, which is less than 50 kilometres away from his Mumbai residence ‘Matoshree’.
Three families in Dombivli reportedly lost their breadwinners in the Pahalgam incident. “They did not visit the bereaved families, nor did they show any responsibility,” Mr. Mhaske added, accusing the Shiv Sena (UBT) of raising the issue now merely to gain political mileage ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
Earlier in the day, women workers from the Thackeray faction staged a symbolic protest in Mumbai, using sindoor (vermilion) to condemn India’s participation in the high-profile match. The party questioned the contradiction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s past statement — “blood and water cannot flow together” — and the government’s decision to allow sporting ties with Pakistan amid heightened tensions.
“How can blood and cricket flow together? How can sport and war be treated the same?” the Sena (UBT) asked.
Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde also accused the Uddhav camp of politicising national security. “The Indian forces have already given a befitting reply to Pakistan. But those now showing their patriotism through protests are opportunists,” he said.
Mr. Shinde further criticised Thackeray for raising questions about the Indian Army and Prime Minister Modi while abroad. “Those who defame the Prime Minister on foreign soil have no moral right to question India’s cricket match with Pakistan,” he said.
The Maharashtra BJP also joined the attack. State BJP media chief Navnath Ban accused the Sena (UBT) of hypocrisy. “If you’re really against the match, ask your own party’s MLC, Milind Narvekar, to resign from the cricket committee. Nationalism should start at home. But Uddhav Thackeray lacks that courage,” Ban said.
Mr. Narvekar, a close aide of Mr. Thackeray, is the member of Mumbai Cricket Association’s ‘Apex Council’.
