MUMBAI, July 24: Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray is convinced that Justice B N Srikrishna has indicted him and his party for the communal riots that had rocked Mumbai in 1993 because he thinks the judge would have been "naturally biased" against his party.Coming up with this stunner at a function to launch the Shiv Sena government's umpteenth housing scheme, Thackeray told reporters: "He (Justice Srikrishna) has a biased mind because the State Government had wound up the Commission and it was revived following the Centre's directives. Naturally, he will not have taken kindly to it. The report has been written with a bias against the Sena," he said.
Without making it clear if he had read the report or was merely reading the judge's mind, he said he was not doubting the latter's integrity: "It's just that it is human nature." Thackeray said he would not be surprised if Justice Srikrishna has recommended his prosecution. "I don't care. Anyway he cannot hang me," he quipped.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.