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Bal Thackerey is no more. His funeral attracted lakhs of people.
Mumbai remained shut for so many days. It is time to sit and
ponder over what really is the legacy of Sena. The champion of
Hindu Nationalism enjoyed every damn thing, which we claim as
'western' influence while spiting venom at 'outsiders'.
Mumbai's biggest event management show is over as the person who
converted a cosmopolitan Bombay to a parochial narrow Mumbai was
cremated with State Honour. A man who did not hesitate to violate
the very principles of Indian tricolour was taken in the state
carriage with his body wrapped in the Indian National Flag and was
finally provided guard of honour before his mortal remains were
consigned to flames. Is not it a tragedy that the Indian state
that the man who should have been asked to account for his role in
various riots in the city actually was seeking the same from
others? A modern city of Bombay actually pathetically turned into
a medieval one where fear became the buzzword.
The crowd assembled there was undoubtedly huge and it also shows
how the issues raised by Thackerey touched the chord of the people
in Maharashtra. It reflects the failures of the secular leadership
of the state, which needed a Thackerey to legitimize itself to
fight against 'communal' Shiv Sena. The party though wanted to
dominate Maharashtra politics yet never believed in democracy
itself. The fact is that Thackerey was not a believer in democracy
but Shiv Sena was necessary evil for him through whom he could run
his 'Sarkar' and bargain with political parties particularly
Congress which gave him strength and protection.
Often we hear from commentators that Thackerey was unambiguous and
spoke what his heart wanted. Yes, that was a great quality but it
is also a fact that those who believe in democratic voices and
dissent can never speak like the fascists who damn care for
anything and are ready to even kill people for dissenting with
them. There was no space for dissent in Shiv Sena as party never
really believed in democratic values, as its core values were
absolutely fanatic and fascist. That is why funds and crowd was
never a problem for Shiv Sena as their core constituency ensured
that 'everyone' participate in their programmes. Hence it was not
out of 'love and affection' that people kept their market closed
in Mumbai but out of fear. And here the elected government of
Maharashtra remained complete failure. It may have handled the
situation politically but it allowed the atmosphere of fear to
grip the city and that was condemnable.
The hypocrisy of the Indian elite from Bombay Film world as well
as political class was visible. From the day when Thackrey's was
on ventilator, Amitabh Bachchan tweeted and asked for prayers. If
anyone who follow politics know about Amitabh Bachcchan then he
turn out to be the biggest hypocrite who can keep one 'secular'
Mulayam in his pocket on left side while the absolute right winger
Narendra Modi on the other side. It is the same 'bhaiyaa' from UP,
who would always flaunt his Hindi background in Puritanism while
dining with Bal Thackarey in the evening. How these contradictions
are managed by these stars are well known to us but the people who
throng at their films and shows must ask this question whether
Amitabh Bachchan support Thackrey's fulminations and hate
propaganda against the North Indians? Whether they and others who
feel that Mumbai is now 'anaath' without him support Sena's
digging the pitches before an Indo-Pak match? Whether Thackerey's
threat to throw
Maharashtra is the land of extreme contradiction. It was land
where Tilak and later Sangh Parivar grew up. They always used the
religious identities to build huge crowds during Dushara
festivities. In true sense Maharashtra was a purely brahmanical
land. But this Brahmanism also got the biggest challenge in
Maharashtra and in the heart of their places. Right from Jyotiba
Phule to Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Maharashtra was a land of revolution
of also. It created a new wave of assertion among the Dalits and
other marginalized communities. Those commentators who are making
the entire issue as unprecedented must visit Diksha Bhumi on every
Dusshera day in Nagpur and Chaitya Bhumi on every December 6th to
see what is unadulterated devotion to leadership and ideology. If
the crowds are the measurement of popularity then definitely many
in India can be unparalleled in that and particularly the cadre
based parties are managers in bringing people but the crowds that
throng Nagpur on Dusshera and Mumbai on December 6th come at their
own to pay their respect to Baba Saheb Ambedkar. How many times,
we report this event on our TV screens. Hence it is essential to
understand why our political class as well as 'mainstream' media
loves to create a larger than life size image of even the
so-called 'undemocratic' people who it was crying against just few
months back on the Marathi Manus issues. It want to create an
impression that Brahmanism and Hindutva have got wider support in
India and government must understand this but then Karunanidhi,
Maywati, Lalu Yadav, Communist Parties can always manage huge
crowds and have shown that too. How many time, we had live
broadcast of their meetings and programmes?
There are few things about Thackerey, which most of the
commentators portray, that he was very unambiguous about his views
and that he never hid his words and that he spoke what he wanted.
But that is exactly the quality of fascist characters. Since, they
do not believe in any dissent and democracy they do not care what
other think. A person like Thackerey was promoted by Congress to
protect its own interest. The more his abuses and fulminations
against Muslims and North Indian, the biggest was the opportunity
for the party to project itself as the 'well-wisher' of this
section. This has resulted in the marginalization of the Muslims
in particular because their issues never got that much highlight
as the north Indian media went on the other issue of Thackerey on
the issue of Marathi Manus. For the votaries of Hindutva,
Thackrey's anti-Muslim rhetoric made him an iconic figure but when
the same Thackerey spoke against the North Indian or Mumbai
becoming 'dharmshala' then the same clientele of Thackerey turned
against him.
And that is why question may be asked as how has a person who spat
so much of venom against Indian nationals from other state and
different religion that he practiced, is given state honour in
cremation and allowed the 'public' farewell. It has two meaning
for me. One, that the entire Maharastra is sharply polarized like
any other parts of the country on caste, religious and ethnic
lines and that whatever Bal Thackerey spoke was accepted by the
local Maharashtrians particularly upper castes. Of course, it is
also true that the Shiv Sena's largest vote share come from OBCs
too who were used against naming of Marathwada University as Dr
Baba Saheb University, against Dalits. Strange that we do not find
much of the Bahujan politics in Maharashtra where it originated in
the form of vast struggles and social movements of Jotiba Phule
and Chhatrpati Shahuji Maharaj. Is it not an irony that son of
Prabodhan Thackerey, who was a devout follower of Joti Ba Phule
and his Satya Shodhak Samaj rarely spoke about Phule and the
struggle that he committed himself for social change.
It need to be analyzed whether we are witnessing an upper caste
counter revolution in India these days which is being reflected in
the form of Hindutva, anti-corruption movements or various other
urbanized forums and then in the name of farmers, to make it rural
also. There is a commonality among them. If the crowd at
Thackerey's funeral or at Anna's Ram Leela or Arvind Kejriwal's
dramas in Delhi, they are quintessentially upper caste middle
class background people with deep prejudices towards the Dalits
and Muslims. They were accused of not stepping out of their homes
and were not a vote bank. Perhaps, it is indications that they too
are now becoming solid blocks so get their issues addressed by the
power elite. Corruption never matters for Thackerey and the
anti-corruption messiahs of India never bothered to touch him for
it was clear that they know he never believed in niceties. As he
was very clear about his perception, many times, it was felt, he
spoke the language that suited political parties and other people.
The Babari Masjid was demolished on December 6th, 1992 in Ayodhya
and Thackerey got an opportunity to spread his hate agenda in
Mumbai. Another Maratha veteran Sharad Pawar was the chief
minister of the state and yet when the communal riots began in
Mumbai in January-February 1993, the police and administration was
closely working with Shiv Sena gangs. Hundreds of Muslims were
killed and there are proofs of the participation of various
political leaders yet the state government did nothing. It never
pursued cases against those culprits in these riots. What happen
if the people do not get justice when their near dear ones are
killed and butchered in front of them? We know international
terrorism is there but we also know that this terrorism or ideas
will never get support from people if justice is there. And in the
aftermath of bomb blasts in Mumbai where underworld dons are
considered to be the real culprits, the Mumbai police have been
active in arresting Muslim youths. It is clear that the
organisations like Sena were there to pressurize and communalise
the entire administration and they succeeded. Today, Mumbai live
in uncertainty as the underworld uses different guerrilla tactics
to retaliate and avenge the attacks or discrimination against
Muslims and Sena and its gang have active state support to protect
the 'Hindus'. It is strange how they change their tactics. When
the anti-Muslim or anti-Pakistani rhetoric does not work then
Marathi Manus issue is raised so that non-Marathis live in
constant fear.
The dirty games of Sena are well known. Bala Thackerey was not
just rabidly accusing and abusing Muslims but he stood against all
forms of rights granted to Dalits and OBCs under Indian
constitution. He vehemently opposed reservation for Dalits and
OBCs and his Sena was responsible for bloody war in Aurangabad for
the renaming of Marathwada University in the name of Baba Saheb
Ambedkar in which thousands of Dalits came on the street and many
sacrificed their lives for the cause. So, it is clear that the
caste Hindus, afraid of Dalit assertion and rights of OBCs and
Muslims found Shiv Sena 'candid' and 'unambiguous' but their own
hopes were dashed when 'all of them clubbed' together in the name
of 'Bihari' and were threatened with dire consequences. That way,
Thackerey and his clans were helping Bihar's 'secular' leaders to
get united under one umbrella shedding their caste identities
which is still impossible for any state in India, leave alone
Bihar.
In one of his interviews with Shekhar Gupta, on ' Walk the Talk'
at NDTV, Thackerey was proudly drinking white wine with him which
makes him different than others who will speak against smoking and
drinking in public but will do the same in private. It is well
known that he loved warm Indian beer. His Cigar was very famous
and unlike other Sangh Parivar wallahs, he enjoyed life
particularly with the glamour world and never hid his relationship
with film stars. Irony is that the Hindutva brigade used Nehru's
lifestyle to target him as a 'westerner' and always created an
image as if smoking and drinking was the sign of an 'evil' person.
Hopefully, with Bal Thackerey's open love for all these things,
they will change their views and take people based on their
ideology and action.
It was an open secret that he deeply respected personal
relationship and fulfilled them. That is why even Sanjay Dutt who
had problems in 1992 riots cases, got support from Thackerey. He
admired Hitler though he said he was fan of his 'commanding'
loyalty and communication skills. He admired Saddam Hussein and
perhaps like them he too had a great fan following. Every fascist
dictator world over has a greater fan following as they are
attractive for many in the middle classes and for thousands
suffering in poverty and misery find them as their real 'messiah'.
In the democratic polity that we follow today, there are lots of
ambiguities and pretensions but those who do not believe in these
pretentions can speak unambiguously and challengingly and
absolutely suitable for the status quo.
Bombay had a historic legacy of labour movement and inclusive
culture. It was a city, which every Indian was proud of as it
welcomed every one without making them feel insecure of their
identity. Today, it is Mumbai with Shiv Sainik being the real 'Sarkar'
and the common men who came to the city for his life and survival
is living at the mercy of these goons as the state government has
completely abdicated its responsibility to protect the citizens of
the state. The Thackerey legacy has ruined Mumbai. It does not
matter whether there were two lakh people or two crore in his
funeral, the only thing we all will remember that Thackerey's
divisive and hate politics made a cartoon of Bombay where people
are insecure, the infrastructure is crumbling and goons are
roaming wearing political hats. Thackerey did not create Bombay
but he and his Sena ruined and handed us Mumbai with all its
insecurities and parochialism.
Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a writer and human rights defender,
based in India. The author could be reached at
vbraawat@gmail.com.
The above article is
endorsed and circulated byIHRO and AHRC. AHRC, the Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia,
documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional
reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The
Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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