Thackeray blasts BJP leaders for praising Jinnah

Flaying BJP leaders for heaping praise on Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today said calling the Pakistan founder secular was an insult to all those who shed their blood for India's independence.

"(L K) Advani created an ideological confusion by lauding Jinnah. Jaswant Singh has added to it," Thackeray said in an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana.' "It is due to this ideological confusion that the Hindus became frustrated and directionless and the impact was seen in Lok Sabha elections," he said.

"How can a person who demanded a separate state for Muslims be termed secular?" the Sena chief asked and added that "calling Jinnah secular is an insult of all those who shed their blood for India's independence."

"If Jinnah was secular, then why did Advani leave Sindh Province in Pakistan and come to India?" he asked.

Thackeray said he could not understand why BJP leaders, who call themselves staunch nationalists, slip time and again."It seems there is a competition in BJP of showering flowers on Jinnah," he added.

Jaswant Singh has said that Jinnah was "demonised" by India even though it was Jawaharlal Nehru whose belief in a centralised system had led to the Partition.