On Wednesday, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut stated that his party did not need validation or lesson from anyone on patriotism while taking a dig at its former alliance partner BJP claiming that he was the headmaster of the “Hindutva” school from where BJP is still studying.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on the historic Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019, Sanjay Raut said nobody needs to teach Shiv Sena a lesson on patriotism. We are the headmaster of the school of Hindutva where you are studying, he added.
He added that the past headmasters of the school have been Balasaheb Thackeray, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee all of whom are respected by Shiv Sena.
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena: We don’t need any certificate on our nationalism or Hindutva. Jis school mein aap padhte ho, hum us school ke head master hain. Hamare school ke headmaster Balasaheb Thackeray the, Atal ji, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee bhi the, hum sabko mante hain. pic.twitter.com/xoQHwJ9rQT
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2019
Reacting to PM Modi’s address to BJP MPs earlier today in which he said that Opposition is speaking Pakistan’s language on the CAB, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut has said, “We are not Pakistani citizens. This House is not of Pakistani citizens.”
Raut said that if the government was so serious and strong against Pakistan, they should end Pakistan. He also said that his party has set high hopes on Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to protect minority brothers and sisters who are currently being persecuted in Pakistan.
He also raised his previous demand stating that the government should provide citizenship to the persecuted minorities but should not give them any voting rights.
“I accept that the rights of our minority brothers in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are violated and they should be protected. But, we should not play politics in their name,” he added.
Shiv Sena had done flip-flop over their stand on the CAB. On Monday, they had supported the bill, but on Tuesday, presumably after their new ally Congress’ displeasure over their support to CAB, they did a U-turn and started hinting that they may not support it in the Rajya Sabha.
The bill which seeks to make it easier for non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered the country before 2015 to become Indian citizens was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Sanjay Raut had said the dynamics in the Rajya Sabha were different from that of the Lok Sabha and asserted that the government will have to answer their queries before they can expect support.
It was reported that the Shiv Sena may revise its stand on the citizenship bill after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had stated that they will not give support to the bill unless things are clear. “They (government) should make changes when they bring the bill to the Rajya Sabha,” Uddhav had asserted on Wednesday morning.
With three seats in Rajya Sabha, Shiv Sena has not yet revealed what stand it will take on Citizenship Bill in Rajya Sabha. With the current strength in the Rajya Sabha, the bill will need to cross the halfway mark of 121 to pass.
