An era ends today, by
the demise of Balasaheb Thackeray, undoubtedly the most influential, popular
and controversial figure in anyone’s recent memory in India .
Political acumen came both by inheritance and by profession
to him, the former as the son of Keshav “Prabodhankar” Thackeray and the latter
as cartoonist which he always has been at heart from the age of twenty. His
father famously declared when Shiv Sena was formed in 1966, that he now
dedicates his son to Maharashtra. Balasaheb did more than just live upto the words of his
father, who was instrumental in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, (which called
for a united Maharashtra inclusive of Mumbai, Konkan, Western Maharashtra,
Vidarbha and Marathwada regions but exclusive of Gujarat), a dream which
finally was realized in 1960. Starting out initially as a leader who was
dedicated to the cause of the Marathi Manoos, he quickly took the Hindu cause
to his heart, sadly being the only leader in the political scenario to
fearlessly address Hindu causes when India’s politics has made appeasement its
raison d’etre (You might be proud of being Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali or
Gujarati, but remember, until you don’t establish your identity as a Hindu, you
will nevr be able to live a life of self
respect). Another quality of his which made him rarest of the rare in Indian
politics plagued with hypocrisy and double standards , was his complete lack of
political correctness and double speak and his fearless views which made him
both a hero and a villain, depending on whose perspective he was viewed from
(What is in my heart is in my mouth . My words are shot like a bullet and I do
not care if truth hurts anyone).
The popular media and the popular culture and
public opinion that spawns from it has painted him in the most satanic colours
possible, as some sort of a bloodthirsty psychopath like figure who could speak
nothing but hate speeches (The Washington Post had once described him
as “the man who rules Bombay the way Al Capone ruled Chicago — through fear and
intimidation”) .In a world blighted by political correctness and self denial,
truth automatically becomes the biggest hate speech.
The so called civilized viewers and adherents of
popular media who never lose an opportunity to malign him and swear by the
spirit of Mumbai and the freedom it gives to them forget conveniently that
without Balasaheb, Mumbai would neither have spirit nor it would be free. They
perhaps do not know that Balasaheb started his journey towards prominence by
destroying the power of the Communist trade unions that dominated the mills
which were the backbone of the city in the 1960s and 70s, thereby having Mumbai
continue as the financial capital of the country instead of becoming another
Kolkata. In the post Babri demolition riots, when the city was at the mercy of
jehadi mobs, it was the Shiv Sena and not the police which saved the city from
certain massacre by taking the attack ruthlessly to the attackers themselves.
But for him, Dawood & Co would still have been here dictating terms instead
of having to flee to Dubai and Karachi.
It was him who brought
India to the world entertainment map when he encouraged Michael Jackson to have
a concert in Mumbai in 1996, when some international artist coming to India was
unthinkable. During its four-and-a-half-year stint(1995-99), the Shiv Sena
government renamed Bombay to Mumbai and started various infrastructure projects
like the Krishna Valley Irrigatiion Project and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. It
also built 56 flyovers in Mumbai and started the slum redevelopment scheme.
Where else would you find a public figure in India
who had all the opportunities to come to power and retain it forever, yet
preferred to remain out of power because he did not compromise with his ideals
and form third rate alliances with third rate people for coming to power and
neither did took part in vote bank politics and casteism, both of which he
hated. He never resorted to minority appeasement, even at the cost of not
winning election when his party lost his power in 1999.The EC banned him for
five years for his speeches and editorials in Jan 1993 in Saamna where he urged
Hindus to pick up arms to defend themselves (the same commission ignores anti
hindu speeches made by the likes of MIM and many SP leaders).Some examples:-
A Saamna editorial ahead of the
demolition of the Babri Masjid said “How does your Shiv Sainik appear as he is
marching towards Ayodhya? Like the roaring lion spreading terror, with the gait
of an intoxicated elephant, like the assault of a rhino which reduces to powder
a rocky mountain, like the manoeuvres of a leopard: our infinite blessings to
these Hindu warriors who are marching towards Ayodhya”.
Or after the March 1993 Mumbai bombings which
killed 250 people, he openly called for all anti national elements among the
Muslims to be thrown out ofthe country, since the bombings were funded by
Muslim expats and carried out by in the muslims in India. His definition of
anti-national Muslims included “those who fired crackers of victory whenever
Pakistan defeated India in cricket ”.
Or hen Kashmiri separatists declared that there
would be no more Amarnath yatras, Thackeray shut them up with one sentence “Then
there would be no Hajj through Maharashtra.”
The seculars surely cried for his head when they
read this but they had remained silent when lakhs of Kashmiri pundits were
forced out of their homeland by Pakistan backed militiants. While the rest of
the political parties looked away because KPs did not form a vote bank and the
seculars remained silent as Hindu lives have no value, it was this extremist
Balasaheb who opened the doors for them by making the govt of Maharashtra
create quotas for them in all the educational institutes across the state when
the J&K govt itself was treating them like a pariah. 700000 KPs benefitted
from this, something which the bleeding heart media will never highlight in its
quest to glorify the Kashmiri separatists. A few years earlier during the 1984
anti Sikh riots , he had declared and ensured that no Congress goon would be able
raise a hand on a Sikh in Maharashtra. Today, when he is no more, gurudwaras
across Mumbai are open for lodging of people travelling from length and breadth
of the state and country to attend his funeral.
He never budged from his ideals even at the cost
of losing votes. In 1991 Chhagan Bhujbal defected to the join the Congress as
he did not agree with Thackeray’s opposition to the Mandal commission and the
provision of reservations for the OBCs.With his exit, the Sena lost a chunk of
its OBC votes. Any other leader in any other party would have lost no time in
backing a populist move like this. But not him.
His vehement opposition to any kind of ties with
Pakistan unless it ends cross border terrorism has been legendary, which made
him an infamous figure in Pakistan as well.
He was easily the best orator in the last fifty
years, and there was no one like him who could raise the populace to action
without being an elected representative.
To those who say that
he did not do anything for the people outside Maharashtra, I wish to ask what
have the likes of Gandhi family done for
the constituencies of Phulpur, Rae Bareilly and Amethi?
How can a person like
him who has fought the caste menace all his life be a bigot but the numerous
politicians who have built their careers on caste identities and caste vote
banks be secular?
How can a Shivsena that smashes the jehadi underworld be a
threat to India but secular parties that give citizenship to Bangladeshi illegals,
a glory?
The writer did not agree with a lot of his view points but in his
opinion, one Balasaheb Thackeray who calls for the destruction Pakistan during
Kargil war is better than one hundred Nitish Kumars who go across to Pakistan and praise
it to gain some brownie points of secularism. An extremist Shiv Sena that
always runs to the rescue and volunteer work in case of a terrorist attack and
natural disaster is anyday prerferable to a secular Congress that fattens up
terrorists and criminals in five star jails and sucks the blood of the common
man.
The roar will never be
heard again in Shivaji park. Mumbai will take time to come to the terms that
the towering personality which was a part of its life for fifty years is no
more.You were certainly a giant among the khadi clad pygmies, Sir, a welcome
change from the pathetic Gandhian buffoonery that we have become used to. May
your legacy live and inspire..
Jai Hind Jai
Maharashtra.
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