MNS activists on Monday disrupted the admission process of the prestigious Sainik School in Satara and threatened students from other states who were trying to take admission in the school.
The defence ministry has set up 24 sainik schools all over the country in order to prepare students for their entry into the NDA and the Indian Naval Academy. One of these schools is in Satara. On Monday, alleged MNS workers entered in the district government hospital, where the medical tests were being conducted on the students by the school. After ascertaining the identity of those students who were not from the state, the alleged MNS workers issued threats to them, after which students along with their parents left the hospital premises without appearing for the medical tests.
According to MNS workers, these students had allegedly forged their birth certificates and were faking their age in order to get admissions. Ironically, the MNS workers rioted at Civil Hospital, while the work of verifying ages of the applicants is not done at the hospital, but by the principal of the school.
Satara city police station has registered a case under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Bombay Police Act against MNS workers for rioting and deterring a police constable at the Civil Hospital. No arrests have been made so far.
According to additional superintendent of Satara district, Amol Tambe, the case has been registered against five known and seven to eight unknown persons. Interestingly, MNS chief Raj Thackeray pleaded ignorance about the incident. When he was asked about the attack by journalists in Mumbai, he said, “I am hearing about it from you for the first time. Let me get information on it.”
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Raj: didn’t plan any pune rally
SHOBHAN SINGH
MUMBAI, MARCH 4
A day after Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar directed his party workers to not oppose Raj Thackeray’s Pune visit, the Maharashtra Navnir-man Sena (MNS) chief on Monday announced that he had never planned to hold any rally or political event in Pune. Local NCP leaders had threatened to not let Mr Thackeray enter Pune after his verbal attack on the NCP. Mr Thackeray had gone on to challenge the NCP workers to try and stop him from entering the city when he visited on March 7. However, on Monday, he clarified that the only reason he was planning a trip to Pune was to meet an old friend and eat masala dosa with him.
Addressing the media on Monday Mr Thackeray said, “I was never going to hold a rally or organise a sabha in Pune at all. I am going to meet a friend.” NCP spokesperson Ankush Kakade on Saturday had expressed in certain terms that the NCP party workers would not allow Mr Thackeray from entering the city. And, on Tuesday, NCP workers had pelted stones on Mr Thackeray’s convoy expressing their annoyance over the MNS president’s comments on deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar.