On Monday several Shiv Sena activists blackened the face of Sudheendra Kulkarni to protest the launch of a book on foreign policy by Khurshid Kasuri, a former Pakistani foreign minister. Shiv Sena parliamentarian Sanjay Raut defended the incident saying the reaction was mild. He said: "The ink attack on Kulkarni is a mild reaction from Sena, this is not ink but the blood of our soldiers.” (Read: Shiv Sena refutes report that protest against Kasuri has been withdrawn)

The incident comes a week after, a concert by Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali was called after organisers were threatened by the Sena. This led senior journalist to write an open letter to Shiv Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray. Rajdeep wrote, "I thought I'd write one to you too (Aaditya). Especially since we went to the same college: as a fellow Xavierite, I feel we share a bond, and as a senior alumni, might even dare to offer some advise." (Read: Rajdeep Sardesai's open letter)

Referring to attack on Kulkarni, Rajdeep added, "His crime? He had organised a discussion in Mumbai on former Pakistan foreign minister Khursheed Kasuri's book. The Shiv Sena we were told was angry with the presence of a Pakistani on Indian soil and wanted to register their protest. So, ink had to be spilled on the streets of Mumbai yet again. Last week Ghulam Ali, this week Kasuri: the Sena is back in the news."

Replying to this, Aaditya Thackeray wrote to Rajdeep on his Facebook profile. He wrote: “The point really being, we all accept that art, culture, cricket and literature are symbols of freedom and more so are carried by people who are innocent and away from politics of the two countries. Why do we stand against it? The question can be answered by more questions-1) Who do these terrorists target and kill? Aren’t the ones killed in all these attacks innocent lives too? The ones killed may belong to India or any other nationality, but aren’t they innocent? 2) If we support freedom, why does our Independence Day celebration for so many decades have a red alert and the Prime Minister speaking behind bullet proof glass (till it was recently denied by our current PM)? 3) Yes art and culture is the epitome of innocence and mustn’t come in the line of fire of politics. But then surely our soldiers posted at the border aren’t provoking the ceasefire violations, and I count them as innocent as the Indians killed in the terrorist attacks- not one sporadic incident but occurring time and again, and well planned.”