If there is one thing Javed Akhtar has inadvertently done with his controversial statement is bring the frenemies together. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been slamming the lyricist-writer-poet for the past two days, yesterday the Shiv Sena also took on Akhtar. The Sena has claimed that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is into nation-building and cannot be compared to the Taliban. Akhtar had said recently that all right-wing have a similar mindset. “Those who support the Bajrang Dal, RSS and VHP have parallels. Of course, the Taliban are reprehensible he claimed, but these outfits also have the same mindset,” he said in response to a question about hate crimes.

Stone Age

“The Shiv Sena response,” said Mumbai’s Shriraj Nair, Jt Secretary, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Konkan and spokesperson, “is expected from the Shiv Sena, whatever be the differences with the BJP on the political front, they will also support the RSS, it is a Hindutva party. The Shiv Sena knows the RSS very well. The late Balasaheb Thackeray had very cordial relations with many RSS leaders. The VHP endorses that the RSS has always been into nation-building.”