'Ghulam Ali protests had Uddhav Thackeray's backing; Pak artists won't be allowed'

The Bharatiya Chitrapat Sena (BCS), the cine wing of Shiv Sena, has revealed that the decision to thwart plans to invite Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali to city was pre-planned and cleared by the party leadership. "As soon as we came to know about the concert, we discussed the issue with party president Uddhavsaheb ...he gave us a go-ahead," Akshay Bardapurkar, general secretary of the BCS, who wrote to the organisers of Ali concert to cancel the show or else to face the music, told dna.

Bardapurkar, 35, a film producer by himself, also vowed to stop any Pakistani artist from performing in the city. "We will not let any Pakistani artist perform in Mumbai. Be it actor, singer or comedian ...this is our stated position," he said. Ali will now perform in New Delhi on November 8, following an invite from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. The Shiv Sena has threatened to protest in Delhi too. "They (Pakistan) don't allow our films to be released there. Many of our artists don't get visas to travel there. Why should we allow them to come here, celebrate and make money? After 26/11 terror attack, I don't think we have done anything wrong. The Shiv Sena has been against Pakistan since Balasaheb's days. Even those Pakistani artists who come here to take part in reality shows will face protest," Bardapurkar said.

"Organisers should think twice before inviting Pakistanis. When we have singers like AR Rahman, why do they need Ghulam Ali? We have shown what we can do and we will keep doing it. This was a symbolic protest. If needed, we will go all out Shiv Sena style," he said.