Mumbai RAJ

While most blogs and newspapers across the country are berating and reviling Raj Thackeray and his Maharastra Navnirman Sena, most Maharastrians (Marathi speaking that is) have quietly placed their bets on his ‘sons of the soil’ agenda. In cities like Mumbai. Pune, Nashik ,Thane, even the most affluent Maharastrians in the coziness of their homes have applauded Raj Thackeray for taking up the so called cause of Marathi manoos.

Raj has struck a chord with Maharastrains and that’s the reason the government is soft peddling his arrest and subsequent action against him. The following reason can be attributed to his growing influence

1. Mumbai, the state capital of Maharstara is reduced to a city of the migrants as very few Maharastrians can afford to stay within the city limits and are pushed to far away suburbs like Kalyan, Dombivli, Virar, Thane etc.They have to endure more than 3-4 hours of train journey to reach their work place in the city.

2. Except a few affluent, most Maharastrians in the city stay in chawls and work as maids or drivers to the city’s affluent class. Hence when even the so called government posts are being usurped by other state people, most Maharastrians prefer to support Raj Thackeray and his vandals. In other states like Tamil Nadu or Kerala, non-tamilians or non-keralites getting any kind of local jobs is unheard of.

3. Unlike other lingusitic communities like Gujrathis, Punjabis, South Indians, the migrant class from UP and Bihar in Mumbai,have tried to organize themselves into a strong political force with active support from Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav. This trend is also unprecedented and is not seen or herad in any other lingusitic states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or West Bengal

4. With depleting resources and crumbling infrastructure, Maharastrians have come to blame the people from UP and Bihar for their everyday ills due to their sheer numbers. Raj Thackeray has used this opportunity to exploit the discontent and establish his fledging party and its agenda

5. Even a stray incident like gunning down of a 23 year old youth, brandishing a revolver in a crowded bus in Mumbai and firing indiscriminately, has provided fodder for political khichdi cooked by leaders from Bihar. They have made reckless statements as if the Mumbai police killed the youth because of his linguistic background. The primary duty of the police is to protect the lives of the innocent and not sweet talk to a gun trotting ruffian.This kind of opportunism emboldens politicians like Raj Thackeray to fire fresh salvos at the north Indian community.

The need of the hour is for the north Indian community to organize themselves to a political force and give a distinct local identity to protect themselves from their so called own leaders.