Kasuri book launch to be held as per schedule, says Kulkarni

Unfazed by paint attack, former BJP ideologue Sudheendra Kulkarni today said the launch of former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri's book will be held this evening in Mumbai as scheduled.
"Those who threw ink and smeared my faced have defaced the tricolour I was wearing. This is an assault on democracy," said Kulkarni, the chairman of Observer and Research Foundation (ORF), a foreign policy think-tank which is organising Kasuri's book launch.
"I told (Shiv Sena chief) Uddhav Thackeray yesterday that it is your right to protest peacefully but you will have to respect our right to hold the book launch," he said.

"Today's ink attack on me is an assault on the Constitution and Indian culture," he said.
"Last week, the President said tolerance is a core value of Constitution. This attack is not my insult but an insult of the President of India," he said.
Responding to the incident, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said, "We are growing intolerant by allowing such elements who attacked Kulkarni to flourish.