The Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Sena (BVS) made the announcement through posters outside the Sena headquarters in Dadar and the Shanmukhananda Hall in Matunga. The announcement coincided with the Shiv Sena’s 42nd founding day celebrations on Thursday.

“Yes, we are terrorists! If protecting the country is terrorism. If killing traitors is terrorism. If bombing those who criticise the nation, the motherland and the religion is terrorism. If fighting terrorism with might is terrorism. Then we are proud to be terrorists,” the posters said.

BVS President Abhijeet Phanse said Thackeray’s editorial in Saamna on Wednesday had been misunderstood and the posters were apt to mark the Sena’s anniversary. “What is wrong with that?” he asked.

The Saamna editorial had said that the bomb planted by Hindu fundamentalists in a Thane theatre was a damp squib. It urged Hindus to make “better bombs” to match those made by “Islamic terrorists” and target “mini-Pakistans” in India. It said Hindus would be saved only if Hindutva organisations formed suicide squads on the lines of the ones formed by Islamic terror organisations.

“We just want to echo his thoughts, and repeat that we are proud to call ourselves terrorists according to the points we have mentioned,” Phanse told The Indian Express.

“What sense does it make to make bombs and attack our own people? We would rather make better bombs and fight against actual terrorists, those who are against our country,” he said.

“We are not Gandhians, we are Shiv Sainiks. This is the language we speak. Moreover, we are not going to be silent if terrorist attacks take place, we will retaliate. In fact, we have used language that will be best understood by people who have such motives. We want them to know that we are capable of retaliating,” he added.

Sena spokesman and Saamna executive editor Sanjay Raut defended the youth activists. “If the youth wing has put up these posters, then I must say they have adopted the philosophy of the party well. I won’t deny that,” he said.

The Mumbai Police said they were seeking legal opinion before considering action against the BVS. “We have approached legal experts and are waiting to hear from them to understand the implication of such words. I am sure they have consulted their legal machinery before they put these up,” said Milind Bharambe, DCP (Zone V). “At this stage, I can only say that prima facie, any citizen resorting to terrorist measures, howsoever good the intention, is not correct,” he said.