A dose of its own medicine

Some unidentified people pelted stones at the offices of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana in Navi Mumbai and threw ink on its Thane office on Tuesday to protest a cartoon it had published in its Sunday edition. The cartoon had a kissing couple, who purportedly mocked the Maratha's "silent rally" in response to the Kopardi rape and murder. Shiv Sena activists, in the past, have been involved in a number of such attacks on the offices of newspapers and TV channels, which had allegedly criticised the party. This time, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray swung into action to avoid further damage and told party workers to treat it as a cartoon and not make an issue out of it. So far the party has not declared its stand on the Maratha reservation issue or on amendments to the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Instead, Thackeray has been demanding a debate on these issues in the state legislature and in Parliament.