In an interaction with the media on completing 20 years in international cricket, Tendulkar in true patriotic spirit, had said, "I am a Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that. But I am an Indian first. And Mumbai belongs to all Indians." Hardly would he have expected this to spin off a controversy.

The Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said in the Sena mouthpiece 'Sammana,' "By making these remarks, you have got run-out on the pitch of Marathi psyche. You were not even born when the 'Marathi Manoos' got Mumbai and 105 Marathi people sacrificed their lives to get Mumbai." Thackeray said Tendulkar "left the crease and moved to the pitch of politics by making these remarks which have hurt Marathis."

Several politicians have taken umbrage at Thackeray’s remarks. But, the one statement I liked most was by the Minister of State, External Affairs,  Shashi Tharoor. Reacting to Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's criticism of Sachin Tendulkar, Tharoor  said "with Maharashtra for Maharashtrians and Kashmir for Kashmiris, where is India for Indians?"
Tharoor's posting on social networking site 'twitter.com' read: "on Sachin & Sena, my late dad Chandran Tharoor said in 66 -- with Maharashtra 4(for) Maharashtrians & Kashmir 4(for) Kashmiris, where is India for Indians?"

There is nothing surprising in Thackeray’s remark, which is in keeping with the present trend. Kerala’s stand on Mullaperiyar and Karnataka’s stand on Cauvery and several such positions taken by different states is just an extension of this narrow parochial, ‘regionalistic’ approach to issues. There is total deterioration in national values.  

In this context, the words of despair, expressed yesterday by the former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee seem relevant.  Chatterjee said the political atmosphere in the country has got "seriously vitiated" and politics of "intense confrontation, negativism and opposition at all costs" is taking the upper hand denying the space for collective and consensual approach towards major national issues. "After six decades of our independence, we have come to a stage, nowadays, when questions are being asked about workability of our democratic set-up based on the Parliamentary system and about the utility and relevance of our vital democratic institutions," Chatterjee said. Politics in the country today carries with it "an image of intrigue, venality, disorder and anarchy, strongly detested by our people," he added.