Today I wanted to write something non-controversial and humorous(I already started writing on "Ek khiladi Ek hasina") but after hearing the news that A group of MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) activists beat up North Indian candidates of the Railway recruitment exam in ICL school at Vashi, Mumbai, I am too pained to do that. Initially it was played by Shiv Sena in 1960 when they were against south Indians( Shiv Sena called them lungiwala). Shiv Sena galvanised people by siting pride in local culture and making "others" from outside standout like sore thumb.Now south Indians are gone (because they are running software companies down south or in US) and they(MNS+Shivsena) want north Indians to be out of Maharashtra. I know there are many sympathisers of MNS cause, allover India and they want that only local people live and work in their respective states( Unfortunately I have to believe this because rarely I have seen articles criticizing MNS from some Marathi journalist(except few, like Sudheendra kulkarni) and none of Marathi news daily or TV news channel have criticized MNS or Raj Thakerey for their irresponsible behaviour). You may ask how do I know this as I don't follow Marathi news channels and news papers. I know this by reading articles in many English news papers(TOI, Indianexpress, HT etc) and they have enough resource to know this. Without being diplomatic, I want to ask anyone who sympathises with the cause of MNS or Shivsena that if they believe in India or not? As we all know, according to constitution of India, anyone can live and work anywhere in India, and that's the essence of India. Do you expect Maharashtrians to be beaten by local people when they go anywhere else other than Maharashtra. Should we have Passport and Visa for every state? DO you want Bollywood to be shifted to Delhi, Lucknow or Patna as they produce Hindi movies and there should be a law that only Marathi Movies can be produced in Bombay? All of India can not be equally developed and uniform in distribution of all the things. Some places will be good in something and others will be good for something else and people will move according to their choice and suitability to work. Not only India, its true for any large country in the world. California is software hub and anyone in America willing to work in software industry is free to go there. People from Alaska and Arizona are not beaten when they go to new york.
In India, Wherever I go, I can feel a sense of belonging that goes beyond history, geography, religion or language. Anyone knowing me knows very well that I have always been a firm believer in the concept called India but, now unwanted and fearful doubts are casting shadow over my mind. Almost all of the young people I know are very excited about going abroad. They have almost valid reasoning( not for me) that one should live and work where, there is best opportunity and conducive environment for the same. with all the rants listening day and night about how world is changing and Globalization is the new mantra, I don't know why but all these ideas didn't appeal me. I know, we don't have infrastructurlike developed nations have. Our system is corrupt. I can make fast bucks by working abroad. I can guarantee better future by studying in some Ivy league American university but the very thought of leaving India made me to procrastinate these plans. I never had a doubt before that whether I am doing right thing or not. I was very confident and believed that I can have a bright future in India too and someday we will be able to correct wrong things here but now I am a bit apprehensive about the correctness of my decision. Few exceptions can be ignored but routinely happening the same thing force you to think about it. Still I am optimistic and hope that very few people are interested in hate politics propagated by parties like MNS and Shiv Sena.
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22 comments:
NO COMMENTS!
being a Maharashtrian I support ShivSena and MNS :)
I must say
"Controversial blog" though
@aniket
Yes its controversial but I cant be mute and dont want to be nice to everyone when India is burning.
As I know you personally, so I am sure that you wont beat me for asking few simple questions.
Being a Maharashtian why you must support Shivsena and MNS at the cost of existence of India? Dont you have any other less harmful party to support. e.g. I am from UP and I dont support Samajwadi party because they supported SIMI and also I dont support bahujan samaj party because I dont support caste based reservation.
@Arun
I support Shiv Sena and MNS not because they beat non Marathi people.. just because I think they are the only one who care most of the time for Maharashtra or Maharashtrain
e.g. during 1993 riots.
Even I don't agree about the action they took against non marathi people (I must say just UP and Bihar as they are not targeting Gujrathi, Rajasthani not even any south India) but as I said it's a controversial issue to talk.. And I don't want to comment on this.
The only reason why India as a force does not seem to make much of an impact is precisely because of these internal divides that we have here within the country.
You have touched upon a subject which is not just localized to a state of Maharashtra but has shown its form in different ways different states
It is not just the MNS , the great north and the south divide still exists. As a kannadiga, I still feel that the system is biased towards Kannadigas, which i dont feel is right.
@aniket
ok, lets agree to disagree.
but, let me clear few points. You need not answer me.
1993 riots is not a good example of maharashtrian cause because Muslims are also Maharashtrian and Dawood Ibrahim too.
In 1960 Shivsena was against south indians and one of the victims in current episode is from MP. lets assume that your argument is correct and only people from UP, Bihar has been targeted, even then its not holy thing to do.
@meghna
Completely agree with you.
@meghna
you can see, i am not a narcissist :P I think about other issues too :P
I agree with you arun...Not Because I am from north India but because...incident like these make me believe that We the people of Soverign Republic of India are slowly losing our Identity as Indians.....
I see people blindly supporting incidents like this ...But I feel that as educated citizens our analysis to such events should be logic driven( the basic difference between a response and a reaction). Regional affinity is a part of human nature,I too as a resident of Rajasthan have a affinity towards the place where I was born and brought up because I relate to that place more than any other place...but our education is something that gifts us with the ability to think.....Throughout my schooling I have read about the freedom Movement of INDIA ..there was not a single chapter on the freedom movements of rajasthan, and the reason is simple Rajasthan is an Integral part of India.
In Kashmir our soidiers are sacrificing there lives for last 50 years,because of a simple reason Kashmir is an integral part of our Motherland and cant be shared with anyone...But its a shame that the citizens of this country dont understand the importance of Being an "INDIAN".
@shashank
Thanks for writing wonderful and motivating words here. I hope other people will value the importance of being Indian and dont let the narrow feeling of sub-nationalism kill our great nation India.
I look forward to see more comments from you in future.
@all
Shashank has got a very good sense of humor(we practice it regularly :P) and you will see this in his future comments :D
remember Latur ..earthquakes..when many marathis were under their own debris...crying for help who helped them...North indians came with lots of food and doctors to rescue them...
If marathas are not willing to allow north indians stay here ...they should come up with a demand of a separate country.They doesnt seem to have trust in the honourable constitution of india.
If they want to wage war against north indians...i must say ...that they were most welcome.
Brave Marathas who were shattered by ahmad shah abdalli in the third battle of panipat are really good
in warfares u knw??
How can we support MNS ...who bring shame to the country worldwide by raping and killing innocent christians!!
Marathas dont beleive in the constitution..ohooo ..by the way who was the head of drafting committee of the constitution...let thakray answer this!!
@saras
Buddy, you need not be so harsh. many times Maharashtrians have also helped North Indians. My point is to not disturb the harmony which we had in the past because of few people with vested interest in their mind and partially due to their ignorance. They cant see the broader picture that any state is happy and safe as long as India is safe.
@Aniket
As Shashank pointed out what good is your education if you cant stop for a moment and think rationally.
The first irrationality which is pretty apparent is that you are supporting both ShivSena and MNS , while both are currenty busy in gaining one-upmanship in the game called " Who beat the crap out of North Indians more emphatically "
Well, Raj Thakrey may have the urge to protect marathi pride but what supercedes this urge is his lust for power . And you dont expect ShivSena to be a mute spectator when someone is hijacking their agenda in broad daylight . I'd be interested to know that apart from beating North Indians what else MNS have done for marathi pride.
More than anything else its lust for power which is responsible for this sad incident.
Rohit
@Rohit and other reader
See I don't want to start any argument but as you asked
You guys will not realize the problem that local mumbai residents are facing...
My Mom and Dad presently in mumbai.. on every day my mother used to argue with Sabjiwala over the price and Kg of sabji she wants (Thank got no Reliance Fresh started in Nerul where you can buy even 10gms of onion).. There are other issues too.. See MNS or Shivsena is not targeting IT professionals (non Maharashtrain though) they are fighting over the how common mumbai is suffering due to monopoly of other non-marathi people.. I would expect if someone is coming from other state to my city he/she should behave properly (which is very true in case of Gurjathis) rather than creating some controversy..
Even I don't like the method they used for this issue.. I am completely against that, just want to say every coin has two side try to understand other side too.
And one more thing
Do you think by doing this because of lust of power.. I doubt that see even professional like you (which are in majority) don't like him or what his followers are doing (I am also the part of this group).. This is not going to be a political stunt.
Few points he (Mr. Raj Thakarey) made in his interview @ some marathi channel
1. If Abhitabh Bachchan starts a school in UP for girls on behalf of his daughter in law (Ashwarya Rai Bacchan) No one has any problem
2. Even when it comes to election he (Mr Abhitabh Bachchan) contested from Allahbad not from Maharashtra.
Point is
Great person like A. Bachchan has so much love for his own state then question is why everyone starts arguing when Mr. Raj T. says something about Maharashtra??
@aniket
I was afraid that you may get irritated after seeing so may counter arguments but you have assured me that you wont so, let me try to answer you and highlight the inconsistency in your logic.
Your sabziwala example is way too far from logic and truth. e.g. In Bangalore, there is practically no sabziwala and autowala who is from UP or Bihar but still you can see and you admitted it in Meghna's blog that they are worse and more demanding than Mumbai autowalla and sabziwalla. The point is, the problem which your mom and dad is facing in Mumbai is not due to UP and Bihar but due to the general nature of the auto and sabzi wala and poor regulation by government.
You assumed wrong things and think that replacing UP and Bihar sabziwala with Marathi manus will solve the problem. I will tell you Mumbai autowala is best in the country(you too admitted it somewhere) so you should thank him.
If Raj dint have any objections with Amitabh Bachhan then why he targeted him so many times? I have seen Double faced Raj saying many times that Amitabh should open schools only in Maharashtra. Amitabh has done lots of charity and many good things for Mumbai, if he wants to do one thing for his birth place then he will be labeled as traitor. What is wrong with Amitabh contesting elections from Allahabad? You dont like North Indians to live in Mumbai and then complain that they dont contest elections from Mumbai. its totally inconsistent logic. Sometimes back Shivsena made hue and cry over the issue that few MLAs (2 or 3)in Mumbai are from UP and they are supporting North Indians so there should be a law that only Marathi Manus should be allowed to contest elections from Maharashtra. Why our constitution allows anyone from India to contest elections from anywhere in India? this is not some arbitrary decision, There was some thought process involved in this. The thinking was that a person should contest elections from where he is most comfortable of understanding the cultural, social, administrative issues and thinks that he can do best for that place. e.g. I am from Allahabad and I live in karnataka but still i have more familiarity with local issues of Allahabad so my obvious choice will be to contest from allahabad. If someday in future I think I have more familiarity with Bangalore then i will contest from Bangalore but it will always be my personal thinking and no one should question it. Don't forget that Amitabh was very young at the time of contesting elections and he might not be familiar with Marathi culture as much as, today he is.
The last problem with your assumptions is that you dont see the problem in its eternity, It may be the case that dawood is a devote muslim and does charity but he does many wrong things too. The point is that one should analyze someone's behaviour as whole and not in pieces . If someone's behavor is objectionable most of the times then we should condemn him, even if part of his acts are beneficial to us. In Raj's case he is clearly doing things to disintegrate the nation and if we allow him to do what he wants to do then sooner or later other states will have their thakreys and this country will drift from crisis to calamity, from calamity to catastrophe, and from catastrophe to disaster.
I dont see the other side of coin which you are trying to show(may be there is none).....the explanations quoted doesnt seem to make sense...
Has Mr. Bachchan ever said that only the residents of Allahbad can take a bath in the holy waters of "SANGAM"..the answer is no and this is what that differentiates him from people practicing regionalism...
If organizations like MNS had worked on plans to make the life of common man better...opening school colleges ( may be for marathis only) nobody would have objected, but such actions can never be supported.
I just dont understand that how the day to day problems faced by common man justifies the events that happened in mumbai.
With due respect even my mother and for that matter i think every women who manages house argues with sabjiwala when he tries to sell the vegetables on higher price...But that doesnt mean that the place where sabjiwala is coming from is responsible for his actions.
Its the human nature that makes a person good or bad...honest or dishonest and not the place where he/she is born.
From my point of view...this coin is same on both sides...Its the same coin that Mr. Bachchan used in sholey and on its both sides the same truth is written that what happened in Mumbai is wrong...wrong and completely wrong and can never be justified.
Ok just Answer my question
WHY THEY ARE ONLY TARGETING RESIDENTS OF UP AND BIHAR? (not any other state) don't say they were targeting South Indians some time back in 60's.. we are talking about present issue.
@ Arun
I agree about Mumbai's Riskshaw Wala and problem is not with them, as I said earlier you guys will not understand the problem we faced in daily routine in mumbai.
Arguing over the price is not the problem... problem is minimum amount of Sabji they offer with that price.
Raj T. is not labeling Mr. Bachchan as traitor he just said "IF Great person like Mr. Bachchan does so much for his beloved state of UP then when I says something about Maharashtra why everyone including Media starts from controversy?"
@Shashank
Its the human nature that makes a person good or bad
Your above statement is true in some case.. My question would be why most of the crowd from Bihar or UP or anyother states tries to settle in Mumbai not in anyother part of country say Chennai.. Please go there (Chennai) any try to revise you statement on local Tamilian residents of Chennai.
Please go through this article
http://www.outlookindia.com/rantsmag.asp?fodname=20080303&fname=Diary&sid=1&pn=3
I will try to involve my ohter friends into this just to clarify why we support views/vision of MNS and NOT ACTIONS.
@aniket
they are targeting all the north Indians and pretending that they are targeting only people from UP and Bihar. The reason is simple and clear, because media always use Bihar and UP to show the poverty and corruption in the country. Now it becomes handy for the people like Raj to feed the masses that the people from UP and Bihar are uncultured and corrupt by nature and they can polarize the masses (same was true in 1960 when they targeted south indians), who dont have much of mind to apply.Once the brain goes the rest soon follows.
The assumption that people from UP and Bihar are inherently uncultured and corrupt is obnoxious and too far from truth on many counts. backwardness and corruption in these two states is due to many political and other factors. Lets revise History to understand the people of these two states. These two states account for the large part of proud which as an Indian we claim. The people where Ram and Krishna were born cant be uncultured. Ok, you dont bbelieve in these two and say that these are mythological figures so let us advance furthur in time. The place where Chandragupta and Ashok were born and transformed India cant be uncultured and corrupt by nature. India witnesed its golden era at the time when Mourya dynasty ruled.
let us advance furthur in time and see the freedom struggle of India. You wont find any state contributing more than that of UP. Allahabad was the centre for the freedom struggle movements for both Gandhi and revolutionaries like chandrashekhar Azad.
Nehru happened to be from Allahabad. You must be knowing Mangal pandey and year 1857 which is related to Merrut in UP. The place where hinduism thrived, the land which was used to popularize Buddhism and
Jainism cant be uncultured and corrupt by nature. The point is, Mumbai happened to be financial and industrial capital of India due to some historical reasons(same as california is software hub in America), Bollywood could be anywhere but, by chance and some other factors, its in Mumbai. UP and Bihar remained largly agriculture based due to the poor policies of Governments and not because the people of these states are uncultured and corrupt. Bombay being industrial and financial capital of India, many people from all over India Migrated to bombay for their livelihood. there happened to be more people in UP and Bihar(these two states account for 25% of population of India) so there is more people from these two states in Mumbai.
Now politicians with vested interest in their mind comes in to picture and they use the psyche of native population(there will always be some resentment in the mind of natives for alien population no matter what) for their purpose and UPite, Bihari being the largest homogeneous set of people becomes the natural target.
As you are one of the thinking Marathi and you think in the same line and guided by MNS and shivsena so i can easily estimate the seriousness of situation in Maharashtra.
@ Arun
Do you think all this is because of some political stunt Raj T wants to create? or just doing for sake of votes from Marathi community in Mumbai?
I agree that somehow I am influenced by the statement Raj Thakare made in his speech.. and the reason I agree because I know what the situation is.. and he is speaking the truth.
Yes, definitely Raj is doing all this to show that he is the champion of Marathi cause and he has only politicis in his mind. For me, UP, Bihar, Maharashtra all are there for administrative purpose and nothing else. We all are Indians and there is nothing like dual citizenship in India. I am equally proud of any part of my country and its people. Maharashtra is as significant as UP and anyone can be anywhere in India. If there is some problem in a part of country then I wont label it as problem created by people from some particular region. Miscreants should be penalized and punished and thats government's and Police' Job not of any individual or group like MNS. They have many other things to do as social service. in MNS or Shivsena case, its clearly visible that they are targeting innocent shopowners, rikshawalas(you say they are good :) and outstation students. If these groups are successful, which is happening, then it will definitely be a shame for India.
I agree with you arun....Mumbai is believced to be the Financial capital of India, But I feel It can never attain an important place in world Financial Order and match upto cities like Honkong and Singapore...Because people there have started following theories which are baseless and have become puppets in the hand of politicians.I share the same concorn that you have about the state our country will land into if such acts are not stopped.
@Aniket
I dont need to read what will happen if people settle in chennai or any other part of India...What happened in Mumbai if the samething happens elsewhere it should be opposed..I would like to add that I am not from UP or Bihar but still oppose this...as arun pointed out correctly these boundries are for political reasons and should not seperate Indians from each other.
As far as My statement on human nature is concerned i think its true in every case.
I'll like to ask one question from you...If you happen to meet a person..do you ask him if he belongs to UP or Bihar before talking to him or shaking hands...If that is the case than any furthur discussion on this topic is useless.
Problems are real but the method that Mr. Raj T or his followers has adopted to remove this problem is unacceptable. Being a Maharashtrian, I can say that all Maharashtrians are not indifferent to outsiders. Similarly not all of them try to regionalise matters and are patriotic (as Indians). If I am not mistaken it is the only state whose motto has the country’s name before the state’s. (remember Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra).
If you guys thinks this is political agenda then let see what gain Mr. Raj T get out of it.
As I said before I support what is said I don't support the method he or his followers are using.
@Shashank
If I am not wrong I met you before during the APS training, Did I asked you where you came from? If you remember you got the answer.
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