Mumbai, July 8 (IANS) Launching a blistering attack on its former ally, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has termed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) efforts to project Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee as the architect of ‘Akhand Hindustan(Undivided India)’ as a “completely futile” exercise steeped in hypocrisy.

In a scathing editorial published in the party’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Thackeray camp strongly questioned the justification behind spending crores of rupees from the Central government’s treasury to publicise Mookerjee’s legacy on his 125th birth anniversary. The Sena (UBT) claimed that there is “no evidence” of Mookerjee’s actual participation in the nation-building process, the prior freedom struggle, or any major public movement.

The editorial described the ruling party’s brand of Hindutva and nationalism as a “strange concoction” lacking any purity or sacredness. Targeting the Prime Minister and other senior leaders who showered words of devotion on the Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder, the mouthpiece labelled the tributes as “complete hypocrisy”.

“On the birth anniversaries of the true architects of the nation’s destiny, words of tribute are used miserly, while flowers are showered on those who took an ‘opposite’ stance in the country’s freedom struggle. The exact same pattern is visible in the case of Dr Mookerjee,” the editorial noted, adding that his true character has been exposed due to the BJP’s “extreme Hindutva and its indigestion of nationalism”.

The Thackeray camp linked followers of Mookerjee to alleged administrative corruption within the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. The editorial claimed that the very community following Mookerjee’s ideology manages the affairs of the Ram Mandir and has carried out “the biggest heist” on Lord Shri Ram’s temple.

The editorial highlighted recent leadership shifts within the temple trust, pointing out that while Champat Rai was removed following controversies, his replacement, Bajrang Lal Bagda, brings an equally contentious past. “If you look at the past antics of Bajrang Lal Bagda… the time has come to say that Champat Rai was better,” the editorial alleged, asserting that these controversies stem directly from a structural flaw in the foundation of the BJP itself.

The editorial further slammed the ruling dispensation for using state machinery to fracture regional pro-Hindutva parties. “These very people broke the pro-Hindutva Shiv Sena into pieces and misused the Constitution for that purpose,” it charged, referring to the split in the original Shiv Sena.

Turning its gaze to national security and foreign policy, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena accused the current leadership of cowardice, alleging that they “retreated under international pressure during critical moments”.

The editorial stated that after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, leaders gave nothing but “empty threats” to Pakistan before vanishing. It further alleged that the administration left “Operation Sindoor” incomplete and “straightaway retreated under the pressure of President Donald Trump”.

Further, the editorial remarked that patriotism and bravery cannot be expected from those who follow Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s school of thought. It warned that under the current regime, “the country, Hindutva, and Ram have become unsafe”.

–IANS

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