Oct 23, 2008
Mumbai
For the last two days the law abiding citizens of the city of Mumbai and its suburbs, as well as other cities such as Kalyan, Pune and Solapur were held to ransom by the violent protest staged by the supporters of Raj Thackeray, the leaders of the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) against his arrest. The attack and destruction of public transport buses, taxis, rickshaws and private vehicles and the inconvenience caused to common citizens due to the hooliganism of the MNS supporters have led the people to believe that the government machinery has completely failed in discharging its constitutional duty of protecting the life, property and livelihood of the people. This is the price that the people in general and the government in particular have to pay for the creation of the political Frankenstein by certain vested interests.
Raj Thackeray is not the first political prop up created by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in order to damage the electoral prospects of the Shiv Sena. The Congress was responsible for creating favourable circumstances that led to the emergence of Bal Thackeray, uncle of Raj Thackeray and founder of the Shiv Sena on the political horizon of Maharashtra in 1970s. The Congress used Bal Thackeray and the Shiv Sena to practically destroy the trade union movement in Mumbai industrial belt led by the Communist leaders.
Frankensteins Created by Congress - Raj and Bal Thackeray
The antipathy of Bal Thackeray towards the Communists and their militant trade union movement in Mumbai was viewed by the Congress as an opportunity to check the political influence of the Communist in Mumbai and Maharashtra. Thus, the Congress clandestinely supported the Bal Thackeray and the Shiv Sena without realizing that eventually Bal Thackeray and his party would develop political ambition and would oust the Congress from a number of Municipal Corporations and even at the state level. The industrialists too supported Bal Thackeray with a view of breaking the trade union movement.
By taking up the cause of the Maharashtrians against the South Indians and the Karnataka-Maharashtra boundary dispute, the Shiv Sena gained popularity and support from the 'sons of the soil'. The Shiv Sena adopted violent agitation against the South Indian economic interests such as the Udupi Hotels which were attacked and damaged in large numbers in 1970s. As the political ambition of the Shiv Sena expanded it gave up anti-south Indian stance and aligned with Hindutva forces. It adopted anti-minority policy, especially against the Muslims which led to riots following the destruction of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
Bal Thackeray was a great admirer of Hitler. Like Hitler, Bal Thackeray was an artist and developed aggressive oratory like that of Hitler which kept his audience spellbound. He was quoted by 'Asiaweek' as saying, "I am a great admirer of Hitler, and I am not ashamed to say so. I do not say that I agree with all the methods he employed, but he was a great organizer and orator, and I feel that he and I have several things in common…What India really needs is a dictator who will rule benevolently, but with an iron hand.
Hitler, as many students of history know, was a dictator of Germany who rose to political power following the economic and political crisis that developed in Germany following her defeat in the First World War. He organized the Nazi Party, which took fascism to a new height. The Nazis were opposed to the democratic system, were the enemies of the socialists and Communists and persecuted the Jews who were the minority. The Jews were blamed for all the troubles that Germany had to face and were treated as the enemies of the German nation and thousands of them were eliminated.
Raj Thackeray, the nephew of Bal Thackeray, who had his baptism of politics in the Shiv Sena, hoped one day to lead the party after the patriarch. He grew up under the shadow of Bal Thackeray and developed traits similar to his such as a flair for painting and cartoons. Raj Thackeray also perfected the art of aggressive oratory convincing his audience about the issues that he propounded.
With the age catching up and a bypass surgery, Bal Thackeray decided to pass the leadership of the Shiv Sena to the next generation. Raj Thackeray considered being the most ideal heir in the mould of his uncle was hoping that he would lead the Shiv Sena after his uncle. However, the filial love and dynastic considerations prompted the ageing patriarch to anoint his own son, Udhav Thackeray as his successor. Sulking for being sidetracked in the party, Raj Thackeray left the party that had given him the identity and founded his own political outfit-the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS).
The split in the Maharashtra's premier political family and the rift between the cousins was viewed as a golden opportunity by the Congress and the NCP who tried to fish in the troubled waters. In order to minimize the political influence of the Shiv Sena, the ruling parties indirectly propped up Raj Thackeray and went soft on him and his party men when they went on rampage against the Biharis and UPites.
Raj Thackeray adopted similar issues and tactics as those of the Shiv Sena to increase his popularity. His provocative speeches and the violent agitation by his party men against the North Indians was ignored by the Congress and NCP government of Maharashtra as long as these developments served their purpose of weakening the Shiv Sena. However, the pressure from the central government following the attack by the MNS men on Bihari candidates who had come to Mumbai to appear for the Railway Recruitment Board exams on Sunday October 19 finally prompted the state government to take action against Raj Thackeray and his party men by arresting them, which led to violent agitation.
Even after his arrest Raj Thackeray has hogged the limelight through media coverage of his arrest and the fear that his party men have instilled in the common citizens. He had dared the government to arrest him. Unwittingly, the Congress and NCP have created a political Frankenstein in the person of Raj Thackeray whom they could not control and the situation has reached to such a flashpoint that the central government had to intervene.
The Shiv Sena is on the horns of dilemma. It does not know how to react to these developments. Raj Thackeray has practically hijacked the Shiv Sena programme of the cause of the Marathi Manoos and the tactics adopted by Bal Thackeray.
Like his uncle, Raj Thackeray also admires Adolf Hitler. In an exclusive interview given to Shobha De and published in 'Mumbai Mirror' recently, Raj Thackeray unhesitatingly expressed his approval of Hitler and his achievements.
The challenge posed by Raj Thackeray to the government and daring it to arrest him and the hooliganism let loose by his supporter with scant respect to law and order reminds one what the medieval historian Barani had written about the political situation in India in mid-thirteenth century. "Fear of the governing power, which is the basis of all good government and the source of glory and splendour of the state, had departed from the hearts of all men and the country had fallen into a wretched condition." The situation in the 21st century India is no better.
The divisive politics adopted by certain political outfits is causing irreparable damage to the Indian nation. Dividing the Indian society on the basis of caste, religion, region and language in order to promote narrow political ends is a dangerous attempt to damage the ethos of the Indian nation. It is ironic that the news of the 'Chandrayaan-1', India's maiden mission to the moon had to take a back-stage in the newspapers and electronic media in order to highlight the arrest of Raj Thackeray and the violence let loose by his supporters. Let us look forward to conquer the planets and stars rather than create human misery to rule over a part of the country.
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