Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday demanded that India be proclaimed a ‘Hindu state’.
“We have to decide now… enough of this ‘secular’ stuff. The only option left is to declare India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ if attacks on Hindus have to be prevented,” Thackeray reportedly said in an interview.
The first of the three-part interview was published on Sunday in the party mouthpieces Saamana (Marathi) and Dopaharka Saamana (Hindi) ahead of his 56th birthday on July 27.
The Sena chief said: “If speaking about Hindutva is a crime, at least shed the false pretensions of secularism — as the country is now stuck between the two (Hindutva and secularism).
“When Hindus are being targeted and attacked, where are these secularists? What about the Sanatan Sanstha, which is being crushed like a snake? We don’t support them, but let the truth about the Sanatan Sanstha come out once and for all. Merely talking and labelling them will not serve the cause of justice,” Thackeray said.