New Delhi:
Despite the Shiv Sena attacking columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni with black paint for organising a book launch for former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, the two have said they won't be cowed down by the threats and will go ahead with the scheduled event this evening.
Speaking to NDTV, Mr Kasuri said he was very upset by the attack. "He (Mr Kulkarni) is a gentleman, a scholar and an author. This shouldn't have happened to him. I have known him for 10 years now. He came to Pakistan with Mr (LK) Advani when I invited him for the inauguration of the Kathasraj temple," he said, adding that both of them were determined to carry on with the book launch.
He also said he believes that in a democratic country, people have the right to protest, but disagreed with such expression of disapproval. "I do recognise the right of any political party to protest against my visit to Mumbai. But it should be within the limits of law," he said.
Mr Kulkarni said cancelling the event would mean "surrendering before forces of intolerance". "Cancellation of the programme will mean a defeat and this must not happen and will not happen."
Mr Kasuri said he decided to visit Mumbai despite being advised against it by many of his friends. "People advise me that I must not visit Mumbai, but I thought there was no need for me to change my plan because such threats," he said.
Mr Kasuri's book "Neither a Hawk, Nor a Dove: An Insider Account of Pakistan's Foreign Policy" was launched in Delhi last week and is to be released today in Mumbai in the event organized at Nehru Centre by Mr Kulkarni's Observer Research Foundation, a think tank.