'I'm with BJP-RSS': Ex-Navy man who was assaulted by 'Sena workers'

The retired navy officer, who was recently attacked allegedly by Shiv Sena workers for forwarding a cartoon lampooning Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, said on Tuesday (September 15) that from now on he’s with the “BJP-RSS”.

“From now on, I am with BJP-RSS. When I was beaten up, they had levelled allegations that I’m with BJP-RSS. So now, I announce that I am with BJP-RSS today onwards,” ANI quoted Madan Sharma, the retired officer, as saying.

Sharma’s comment came after he met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai.

BJP MLA Atul Bhatkalkar had alleged Sharma was beaten up by Shiv Sena workers. He even shared a video showing six assailants forcing their way inside a residential colony, pulling Sharma out by his collar. They were seen slapping him in the face several times.

After the attack, Sharma, 62, demanded that the chief minister apologise to him and the country. He had also said that Thackeray should quit his post if he was unable to uphold law and order in the state.

Six persons were arrested in connection with the incident but they were later given bail. However, the Samta Nagar Police re-arrested them on Monday night and a local court on Tuesday remanded them to judicial custody.

Related news: Six arrested in Mumbai for thrashing naval officer who shared cartoon on CM

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana, claimed today that social media platforms are being used systematically to defame Mumbai and Maharashtra.

Since the last five to six years, disparaging comments are being made on social media in the name of gossiping and there is no restriction on it, the Shiv Sena said. Maharashtra and Marathis are experiencing such a situation for the past some days, it said.

“Social media is being used systematically to defame Mumbai and Maharashtra. But if anyone retorts to such gossiping in their own style, then concerns are raised about one’s (the user’s) freedom of speech,” it said.

The remark also comes in the backdrop of the bitter row between Kangana Ranaut and the Thackeray-led Maharashtra government that ensued after the actor likened Mumbai with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).