Thackeray pats sainiks

, Thackeray crowed: 8220;I am proud of my workers. This kind of patriotism will help the nation in the hour of crisis.8221; But that8217;s not all. If there was praise for his gardner-workers, there was a veiled threat to the BJP government. 8220;In India, terrorists and extremists are never sentenced to jail. So I hope the law enforcing agencies will not harass the patriotic sena workers for their act to protest against terror tactics of Pakistan. The Atal Behari Vajpayee government should ensure that they are not even touched by the police,8221; Thackeray added.

Sena MP MadhukarSarpotdar, who was quoted by the workers as having giving the go-ahead for the digging up, parroted: 8220;The pitch can be repaired, but what about the anti-India activities of Pakistan. Can the the lives of the people lost in the Kashmir valley be brought back,8221; Sarpotdar asked.

Shiv Sena is not against cricket, but at a juncture when Pakistan has launched a world-wide drive against India, it will be highly improper to play any game with such a country.

8220;This is a way of communicating our sentiments to Pakistan and it is also an attempt to ensure that the Vajpayee government will take all possible steps to curb activities of ISI,8221; sarpotdar added.