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Defeat is the distance between a bedtime story and a wake-up call. The former starts with ‘Once upon a time...’ and lulls the voter to sleep. The second is an energiser that addresses a fresh dawn.
MIC have become victims of their own success: their narrative has run its course, and they have not been able to find a further chapter to their saga.
The MIC story is the simplest: the fairies have abandoned its fairy tale. It began as the party of refugees from India. reinvented itself as a champion of indians a psychological rather than an economic need.
Although MIC is confident of avoiding another dismal electoral performance, nonetheless the party leadership is aware that it will be a rough ride.
GEORGE TOWN: Pakatan Rakyat Indian grassroots and its noisy cyber commentators may claim that the next general election will hammer the final nail in MIC’s coffin and send it into political extinction.However, despite facing an imminent toughest electoral challenge in its history, G Palanivel-led MIC is quietly confident that it could turn the table against and win many seats.
Boosted by growing support among the Malay and Indian electorates, sources said the party’s strategists were increasingly poised of winning six parliamentary and between 11 and 17 state seats in the next polls.
Like in the 12th general election, MIC would contest in nine federal and 19 state constituencies in the 13th election.
Its federal seats are Sungai Siput, Tapah, Cameron Highlands, Hulu Selangor, Subang, Kapar, Kota Raja, Teluk Kemang and Segamat.
In the 2008 general election, MIC won only Cameron Highlands, Tapah and Segamat before regaining Hulu Selangor via a by-election later.
This time it is confident of winning all except Subang, Kapar and Kota Raja.
Its state seats are Lunas and Bukit Selambau (Kedah), Prai and Bagan Dalam (Penang), Pasir Panjang, Behrang, Sungkai and Hutan Melintang (Perak), Batu Caves, Ijok and Sri Andalas (Selangor), Jeram Padang and Port Dickson (Negeri Sembilan), Kahang, Permas, Tenggaroh and Gambir (Johor), Malacca’s Asahan and Pahang’s Sabai.
Among these seats, MIC believes it had a fighting chance to clinch Lunas, Bukit Selambau, Bagan Dalam, Prai, Pasir Panjang, Behrang, Sungkai, Hutan Melintang, Batu Caves, Ijok, Jeram Padang, Kahang, Tenggaroh, Gambir, Asahan and Sabai.
The party, however, concededed that Sri Andalas and Port Dickson were difficult seats, while it also feared losing Permas due to the inept performance of incumbent MM Samy.
In the last election, MIC won only the four Johor seats, Asahan, Jeram Padang and Sabai.
Right formula is crucial
Although MIC was confident of avoiding another dismal electoral performance, nonetheless the party leadership was aware that it would be a rough ride towards the finishing line.
Party insiders concurred that MIC must first apply the right formula to win these seats, combining winnable candidates with effective campaign strategies.
They said the right formula would be crucial in seats that MIC lost narrowly in 2008.
The party had submitted a list of 56 names of potential winnable candidates, two for each constituency, to Barisan Nasional national chairman Najib Tun Razak.
The MIC leadership was also contemplating shifting chosen candidates to different constituencies to increase their chances of winning, such as in Prai, Lunas, Bukit Selambau and Batu Caves.
Party insiders said a capable winnable candidate could draw some 1,000 to 2,000 votes on his own.
“In the current political scenario, it’s a huge amount of votes. As BN faces a tough adversary, each vote counts,” said a MIC top leader.
Among main factors boosting MIC’s confidence was the alleged surging shift of support among ethnic Indians and Malays from Pakatan Rakyat towards BN.
Sources claimed that MIC and BN’s own ground studies and intelligence reports revealed that some 60% to 65% of Malays and Indians would back BN in the coming polls.
Chinese support for BN stood between 25% and 30%, said the source.
Sources said MIC would tap on Najib’s rapidly increasing popularity among the Indian community.
“Many working class Indians are impressed with Najib’s direct touch to address and resolve their issues spot on. This can tilt the balance in MIC’s favour in a close fight,” said a party insider.
The himdu movement brought great rewards, culminating, albeit through a parabola enhanced by the charisma of , in six years of power at the Centre. But within this time, the Indian mood turned. Economic aspirations took primacy over psychological needs, particularly since the temple movement was irrelevant by the destruction of the mosque at Ayodhya. A functioning temple has come up on the site, a fact that seems to escape the attention of those writing the BJP manifesto, which keeps promising to build a temple.
RISE AND FALL OF SHIV SENA AND RSS THE CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE AND HATRED –
Filed under Uncategorized By Dr. Wasim AhmaD
believed to have been pressed into prostitution, and are being treated as victims.
Nihar is the son of the Sena supremo’s eldest son Binda, a film producer who died in a road accident in 1996. A police officer said Nihar–who the cops are searching for–had interests in several bars in the city. He maintains his own household in Bandra (East).
The women are believed to have been pressed into prostitution, and are being treated as victims.
Nihar is the son of the Sena supremo’s eldest son Binda, a film producer who died in a road accident in 1996. A police officer said Nihar–who the cops are searching for–had interests in several bars in the city. He maintains his own household in Bandra (East).The officer said that most ladies’ bars in the city are a cover for dancing (which is banned) and “other immoral activities”. They are owned by powerful politic Nihar Thackeray, a grandson of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, has been booked under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA). He is believed to be the owner of a ladies’ bar in Santa Cruz (West) from where nine women were rescued after a raid by the police in the early hours on Wednesday. The women are believed to have been pressed into prostitution, and are being treated as victims
GEORGE TOWN, March 27 — Two hundred members of the Penang Hindu Priests Association, who were members of the Bayan Baru division of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), announced that they were leaving the party.
The chairman of the Penang Hindu Priests Association, S. Dhinabalan, said they had decided to leave the PKR because they were disappointed with the party that failed to champion the cause of the Indians in the state.
He said they made the decision to leave the party after losing their trust in the leadership of the party under Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“We left the PKR because of frustration and dissatisfaction that the PKR leader failed to fulfill the promise to champion the cause of the Indian community until today,” he told reporters after lodging a police report on the sex video allegedly involving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the Bayan Baru Police Station, here.
The Penang Hindu Priests Association has 280 members throughout Penang. —
THE MANY TERRORIST ATTACKS ENDURED BY THE CITY HAVE WHETTED OLD RELIGIOUS ANIMOSITIES AND NOW MORE PEOPLE ARE REFUSING MUSLIMS PLACES TO LIVE IN INDIA’S CAPITAL.“IT’S NEVER BEEN SO BAD,” SAYS PRABHAT SINGH, ANOTHER BROKER, WHO IS AN OLD-HAND IN THE DELHIHOUSING CIRCUIT. “SINCE 9/11, IT’S BECOME WORSE EVERY YEAR.”IT’S NEWS WHEN PROMINENT MUSLIMS ARE DENIED HOUSING BUT COUNTLESS REJECTIONS ARE DOLED OUT EVERYDAY. BROKERS ADMIT THAT THIS KIND OF DISCRIMINATION HAS BECOME PART OF THE HOUSING SCENE AND PEOPLE FEEL RATHER NUMB ABOUT THE PREJUDICE.KNOWING THAT HOUSE-HUNTING WILL END IN FAILURE, BROKERS DON’T BOTHER TAKING ON MUSLIM CLIENTS. “IT’S A WASTE OF BOTH OUR TIME,” SAID SINGH, MATTER-OF-FACTLY.WITH MORE THAN 160 MILLION MUSLIMS IN A MAJORITY HINDU COUNTRY OF 1.2 BILLION PEOPLE, INDIA HAS THE LARGEST MUSLIM MINORITY POPULATION IN THE WORLD AND THIRD LARGEST MUSLIM POPULATION.HINDUS HAVE GENERALLY PREFERRED NOT RENTING TO MUSLIMS BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT MEAT COOKED IN THE HOUSE. LANDLORDS OF THE JAIN FAITH ARE EVEN MORE PARTICULAR ABOUT RENTING TO VEGETARIANS. BUT SOME WOUNDS RUN DEEPER THAN MEAT. FOR AN OLDER GENERATION, THE PARTITION OF INDIA STILL CUTS DEEP.ASHOK, AN ELDERLY LANDLORD IN A POSH DELHI LOCALITY, DOES NOT RENT TO MUSLIMS. SITTING ON THE VERANDAH OF HIS HOME ON A NIPPY EVENING, HE RECALLED LEAVING HIS ANCESTRAL HOME IN RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN AND DESCRIBED HIS HARRIED JOURNEY ACROSS THE BORDER.“WE WANTED TO LIVE THERE BUT COULDN’T…HOW MANY HINDUS LIVE IN PAKISTAN,” HE SAYS. “THESE DIVISIONS HAVEN’T CHANGED FOR SO LONG AND THEY WON’T CHANGE.”SINCE 9/11, FINDING HOUSES FOR MUSLIMS HAS GONE FROM TIRESOME TO QUITE IMPOSSIBLE IN GOOD NEIGHBORHOODS. IN GRUNGIER PLACES HOWEVER, RENT MONEY CAN TRUMP OTHER CONSIDERATIONS. “IT IS THE EDUCATED SORTS WHO MAKE MORE FUSS SINCE THEY ARE WORRIED ABOUT THEIR REPUTATION,” SAYS SANDEEP MUKHERJEE, ANOTHER BROKER.THE CURRENT BRAND OF ISLAMOPHOBIA IS MORE PERVASIVE BECAUSE FEAR HAS MADE INTOLERANCE EASIER TO JUSTIFY. WITH NEWS CHANNELS BRINGING EVERY TERRORIST ATTACK SO CLOSE TO HOME, THERE IS A GROWING CROP OF PEOPLE, WITHOUT PAINFUL OLD MEMORIES OR DIETARY RESTRICTIONS, WHO DON’T FEEL GUILTY SHUNNING MUSLIMS.A MIDDLE-AGED LANDLORD SIMPLY SAYS HE DOESN’T HAVE TIME TO DO THE EXTRA LEGWORK OF CHECKING WHETHER THE LODGER IS “SAFE.” A LOUDSPEAKER OF HIS NEIGHBORHOOD MARKETPLACE IN DELHI BELTS OUT A MESSAGE FROM THE POLICE, “PLEASE TAKE ALL PRECAUTIONS WHEN RENTING.”EVEN BROKERS SAY THAT RENTING TO MUSLIMS IS A HASSLE BECAUSE THE POLICE WANT ADDITIONAL VERIFICATION, MORE PAPERWORK AND THE ENTIRE TRANSACTION IS SPRINKLED WITH AN AIR OF SUSPICION.HAVING SO MANY DOORS SLAMMED IN THEIR FACES IS CRUSHING YOUNG MUSLIMS ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO WANT TO BE PART OF THE MAINSTREAM.HUMANYUN CAN VIVIDLY CONJURE UP THE TWO TIMES WHEN HE WAS DENIED HOUSING INDELHI. IN ONE INSTANCE, THE LANDLORD RETURNED HIS MONEY AFTER LEARNING THAT HE WAS FASTING FOR RAMADAN. “THE DAY THAT GUY RETURNED ME THE CASH, I CRIED,” HE SAID.THE 32-YEAR-OLD KASHMIRI-MUSLIM AVOIDS TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED BECAUSE HE HAS FINALLY FOUND A HOUSE IN A DECENT NEIGHBORHOOD AND DOESN’T WANT TO CAUSE TROUBLE.HOMEOWNERS TEND TO GIVE PLACES TO MUSLIM DIPLOMATS FROM ABROAD AND INDIAN MUSLIMS WHO WORK IN WELL-KNOWN COMPANIES THAT CAN VOUCH FOR THEM.HUMANYUN AND HIS WIFE BOTH WORK IN MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES BUT THEIR NEW LANDLORD NEEDED FURTHER CONVINCING. SO, HUMANYUN ASKED PEOPLE HE KNEW IN HIS LANDLORD’S OFFICE TO ALSO PUT IN A GOOD WORD FOR THE COUPLE.“BEFORE YOU ARE TRUSTED… YOU ARE NOT TRUSTED,” HE SAYS.COMPETING REALITIES, HOWEVER, MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO DISMISS INDIA’S CLAIMS OF SECULARISM. SHANTY NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE BEEN THE STAGE OF THE BLOODIEST COMMUNAL CLASHES BUT ALSO WHERE HINDUS FAST WITH THEIR MUSLIM FRIENDS DURING RAMADAN AND HAVE LIVED TOGETHER FOR GENERATIONS.LANDLORDS, WHEN CHARGED WITH BEING INTOLERANT, DEFENSIVELY ASSERT THAT THEY HAVE NO PROBLEM RENTING TO CHRISTIANS, SIKHS, BUDDHISTS OR ANY OTHER RELIGION.EVEN THE APPETITE FOR BLOODSHED HAS DIMINISHED. MULTIPLE TERRORIST ATTACKS HAVE NOT LED TO COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN THE COUNTRY. BUT THE REFLEX MANTRA OF “UNITY IN DIVERSITY” PREVENTS ANY GENUINE STOCKTAKING ON WHERE RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY REALLY STANDS TODAY.INDIFFERENCE IS ONE WAY OF DESCRIBING PREVAILING SENTIMENTS. KAMLA, A MIDDLE-AGED LANDLORD, FOR INSTANCE, EXPLAINED THAT SHE HAS NO DESIRE TO SEE MUSLIMS HARMED BUT SHE WANTS NO INTERACTION WITH THEM. “JUST STAY AWAY,” SHE SAYS.KAMLA HAS RENTED HER PLACE IN AN UPSCALE DELHI LOCALITY TO CHRISTIANS BUT NO MUSLIMS ARE WELCOME–NOT EVEN FORMER INDIAN PRESIDENT A P J ABDUL KALAM OR BOLLYWOOD SUPERSTAR SHAH RUKH KHAN. “THEY CAN FIND HOMES IN THEIR OWN COLONIES,” SHE SAYS.HE LATEST MANIFESTATION OF SEMI-FASCIST TERROR UNLEASHED BY THE CHAUVINIST POLITICAL OUTFIT SHIV SENA ON ANY ONE AND EVERY ONE WHO DARES TO DIFFER WITH IT AS BECOME A SUBJECT OF NATIONAL CONCERN. MEDIA, MINORITIES, BOTH LINGUISTIC AND RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL PARTIES, TRADE UNIONS, FILM STARS, CRICKETERS, INDUSTRIALISTS- THE SHIV SENA SPARES NONE. THE SHIV SENA LEADER AND FORMER LOKSABHA SPEAKER MANOHAR JOSHI UNABASHEDLY SAID: OUR BOYS WILL NOT TOLERATE ANYBODY WHO CRITISISES SHIVA SENA’S SUPREMO BAL THAKEREY. BAL THACKERAY’S VITUPERATIVE ATTACK DOES NOT SPARE EVEN INDIA’S LEGENDARY CRICKETER SACHIN TENDULKAR.THE LATEST ACTS OF SHIV SENA ARE NEITHER NEW, NOR WILL BE THE LAST. THE HISTORY OF SHIV SENA REVEALS THIS.THE SHIV SENA, DURING NEARLY FOUR AND A HALF DECADES OF ITS EXISTENCE, HAS ALWAYS SYMBOLISED THE SEMI-FASCIST FACE OF REACTION. THE RAPID GROWTH OF THE SHIV SENA IN MAHARASHTRA SINCE THE MID-EIGHTIES IS, IN FACT, CLOSELY LINKED TO THE PARALLEL GROWTH OF THE SAFFRON BRIGADE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL DURING THE SAME PERIOD.THE SHIV SENA HAS SYSTEMATICALLY TARGETTED DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF MINORITIES IN A CYNICAL ATTEMPT TO BUILD ITS MASS SUPPORT. SUCH MINORITY TARGETS HAVE INCLUDED NON-MAHARASHTRIANS, MUSLIMS AND DALITS. THE COMMUNAL RIOTS AND CASTE ATROCITIES UNLEASHED BY THE SHIV SENA CONSTITUTE ONE OF THE BLACKEST CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF MAHARASHTRA.THE LINKS OF THE SHIV SENA WITH MAFIA GANGS, ORGANISED CRIME, EXTORTION RACKETS AND CORRUPTION SCANDALS ARE NOTORIOUS.RABID ANTI-COMMUNISM HAS BEEN A FUNDAMENTAL AND CONSISTENT PLANK OF THE SHIV SENA EVER SINCE ITS INCEPTION. IT IS THIS ASPECT THAT HAS ENSURED IT THE FIRM SUPPORT OF BIG BUSINESS.IT WAS THE RULING CONGRESS PARTY THAT NURTURED AND SUPPORTED THE SHIV SENA FOR OVER TWO DECADES FROM THE MID-SIXTIES TO THE MID-EIGHTIES. IN THE EARLY PHASE, THIS SUPPORT WAS GIVEN TO BREAK THE COMMUNIST HOLD OVER THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT IN MUMBAI; IN THE LATER PHASE, IT WAS TO SETTLE FACTIONAL SCORES WITHIN THE CONGRESS ITSELF. AT THE SAME TIME, IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT, WITH THE SOLE EXCEPTION OF THE COMMUNISTS, ALL OTHER OPPOSITION PARTIES IN THE STATE HAVE ALSO COLLABORATED WITH THE SHIV SENA AT VARIOUS TIMES, THEIR LEADERS SHARING THE PLATFORM WITH THE SHIV SENA SUPREMO AND SOME OF THEM EVEN GOING TO THE EXTENT OF STRIKING ELECTORAL ALLIANCES WITH THE SHIV SENA IN LOCAL ELECTIONS.THE SHIV SENA HAS ALWAYS BEEN UNDER THE AUTHORITARIAN GRIP OF ITS DEMAGOGIC SUPREMO BAL THACKERAY, WHO HAS NEVER DISGUISED HIS CONTEMPT FOR DEMOCRACY AND ADULATION OF DICTATORSHIP. HIS SERVILE SUPPORT TO THE EMERGENCY WAS COUCHED IN THESE IDEOLOGICAL TERMS. THACKERAY HAS PUBLICLY GLORIFIED THE LIKES OF ADOLF HITLER AND NATHURAM GODSE.THE GENESIS OF THE SHIV SENATHE SHIV SENA WAS FOUNDED ON JUNE 19, 1966 WITH THE AVOWED INTENTION OF FIGHTING THE ALLEGED INJUSTICE IN EMPLOYMENT AND OTHER MATTERS BEING FACED BY THE MAHARASHTRIANS IN MUMBAI. THE REASON CITED FOR THIS INJUSTICE WAS THE INFLUX INTO MUMBAI OF PEOPLE FROM OTHER STATES, AMONGST WHOM THE SHIV SENA MAINLY TARGETTED SOUTH INDIANS. IT THEN SIMULTANEOUSLY TOOK UP CUDGELS AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS, BRANDING THEM AS ANTI-NATIONAL, AND LAUNCHED ITS STRIKE-BREAKING ACTIVITIES AND OTHER ATTACKS AGAINST THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT. THE BIAS AGAINST MUSLIMS AND DALITS WAS VERY MUCH THERE EVER SINCE ITS INCEPTION.THE SPADEWORK FOR THE FORMATION OF THE SHIV SENA HAD STARTED SIX YEARS EARLIER, WITH THE LAUNCHING OF THE MARATHI WEEKLY “MARMIK” BY BAL THACKERAY ON AUGUST 13, 1960, JUST THREE MONTHS AFTER THE FORMATION OF THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA ON MAY 1, 1960. THE PUBLICATION OF THE FIRST ISSUE OF “MARMIK”, SIGNIFICANTLY, TOOK PLACE AT THE HANDS OF THE FIRST CHIEF MINISTER OF MAHARASHTRA AND A TOP CONGRESS LEADER, Y.B. CHAVAN!THE SAMYUKTA MAHARASHTRA MOVEMENTTHE LAUNCHING OF “MARMIK”, WHICH BECAME A PRECURSOR TO THE FORMATION OF THE SHIV SENA, TOOK PLACE AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF A HUGE MASS MOVEMENT FOR SAMYUKTA MAHARASHTRA, I.E. A UNITED MAHARASHTRA INCLUSIVE OF MUMBAI, KONKAN, WESTERN MAHARASHTRA, VIDARBHA AND MARATHWADA REGIONS BUT EXCLUSIVE OF GUJARAT.THE FORMATION OF A UNILINGUAL STATE OF MAHARASHTRA, WITH MUMBAI AS ITS CAPITAL, WAS ACHIEVED ON MAY DAY 1960 ONLY AFTER A LONG AND BITTER MASS STRUGGLE. THIS DEMOCRATIC STRUGGLE BEGAN IN 1955, LASTED FOR FIVE YEARS AND SACRIFICED 105 MARTYRS IN BRUTAL POLICE FIRING ORDERED BY THE MORARJI DESAI-LED STATE GOVERNMENT IN 1955-56. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED AND BRAVED LATHI-CHARGES IN THE COURSE OF THIS MOVEMENT. THE STRUGGLE WAS LED BY THE SAMYUKTA MAHARASHTRA SAMITI, WHICH MAINLY COMPRISED THE SOCIALISTS, COMMUNISTS AND OTHER DEMOCRATS.THE SAMITI FOUGHT THE PARLIAMENTARY AND ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS OF 1957 JOINTLY AND SUCCEEDED IN GIVING A BIG JOLT TO THE CONGRESS, WHICH COULD SCRAPE THROUGH ONLY BECAUSE OF ITS SUPPORT IN GUJARAT AND VIDARBHA. THE SAME YEAR, THE SAMITI ALSO SWEPT THE BOMBAY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION POLLS, ROUTING THE CONGRESS. THE SAMYUKTA MAHARASHTRA MOVEMENT ACHIEVED VICTORY, BUT AS WE SHALL ANALYSE LATER, IT ALSO GAVE RISE TO A STRONG STREAK OF REGIONAL CHAUVINISM WHICH WAS LATER EXPLOITED BY “MARMIK” AND THE SHIV SENA TO THE HILT.BAL THACKERAY HIMSELF, ALONG WITH SOME OTHERS WHO FORMED THE SHIV SENA, HAD BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE RSS IN THEIR EARLY YEARS, AND THIS HAD THE INEVITABLE IMPACT ON SHIV SENA IDEOLOGY AND ORGANISATION. THACKERAY WAS A CARTOONIST WHO DID A BRIEF STINT WITH THE “FREE PRESS JOURNAL”, AN ENGLISH DAILY IN MUMBAI. HE SOON FELL OUT WITH ITS MANAGEMENT AND STARTED HIS OWN WEEKLY “MARMIK”. FOR SIX YEARS, THACKERAY WROTE PROVOCATIVE PIECES IN “MARMIK”, HIGHLIGHTING INSTANCES OF INJUSTICE TO MAHARASHTRIANS IN MUMBAI, ESPECIALLY IN THE MATTER OF WHITE COLLAR JOBS. LISTS WERE REGULARLY PUBLISHED OF THE NAMES OF OFFICIALS IN GOVERNMENT CONCERNS AND PRIVATE COMPANIES, MAKING OUT THAT MOST OF THE OFFICERS WERE NON-MAHARASHTRIANS, MOSTLY SOUTH INDIANS.THE TARGET OF “MARMIK” WAS NEVER THE CONGRESS GOVERNMENT POLICIES. BUT ITS TARGET WAS INVARIABLY THE “OUTSIDERS” WHO WERE SNATCHING AWAY JOBS FROM THE “SONS OF THE SOIL”. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THACKERAY ALWAYS MADE IT A POINT TO PRAISE THE CAPITALISTS, ALTHOUGH MOST OF THEM WERE NON-MARATHI, UNDER THE PLEA THAT IT WAS THEY WHO PROVIDED THE JOBS! HE ALSO STROVE TO BE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE CONGRESS RULERS, AND EVERY ANNIVERSARY FUNCTION OF “MARMIK” USED TO BE GRACED BY CONGRESS BIGWIGS.THE PUBLIC RESPONSE TO THIS WEEKLY WAS, IN FACT, THE MAIN FACTOR THAT PROMPTED THACKERAY TO FORM THE SHIV SENA, AND IT WAS THIS “MARMIK” READERSHIP THAT EVENTUALLY BECAME THE NUCLEUS OF SEVERAL SHIV SENA ”SHAKHAS”, OR BRANCHES, IN THE URBAN BELT OF MUMBAI AND THANE DISTRICTS.THE FIRST MASS RALLY OF THE SHIV SENA WAS HELD AT THE SHIVAJI PARK IN MUMBAI ON OCTOBER 30, 1966. IT WAS THE DAY OF DUSSEHRA, AND ON EVERY DUSSEHRA DAY IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS, SIMILAR SHIV SENA RALLIES HAVE BEEN HELD ON SHIVAJI PARK. LIKE THE “SHAKHA” CONCEPT, THIS PRACTICE, TOO, HAS BEEN LIFTED FROM THE RSS, WHICH HAS REGULARLY HELD ITS ANNUAL DUSSEHRA RALLIES AT NAGPUR. THERE WAS A LARGE TURN-OUT FOR THIS FIRST-EVER SHIV SENA RALLY, WHICH IS SAID TO HAVE SURPRISED THACKERAY HIMSELF. CONGRESS LEADER RAMRAO ADIK ALSO ADDRESSED THIS SHIV SENA RALLY.THE CARD OF REGIONAL CHAUVINISMTHE TWO MAIN DEMANDS RAISED BY THE SHIV SENA WERE 80 PER CENT JOBS IN GOVERNMENT CONCERNS AND 80 PER CENT HOUSES IN STATE HOUSING BOARD COLONIES FOR MAHARASHTRIANS. IN SUPPORT OF THIS, A VIRULENT CAMPAIGN WAS UNLEASHED THROUGH THE LATE SIXTIES AND EARLY SEVENTIES. ATTACKS ON SOUTH INDIAN ESTABLISHMENTS BECAME A REGULAR FEATURE, AND IT WAS THEN THAT THE EXTORTION RACKET UNDER THE NAME OF “PROTECTION MONEY” BEGAN. IN 1968, CINEMA THEATRES SCREENING HINDI FILMS BROUGHT OUT BY SOUTH INDIAN PRODUCERS WERE ATTACKED AND THE SHOWS BROUGHT TO A HALT. THE SHOWS BEGAN ONLY WHEN CONSIDERABLE SUMS OF MONEY CHANGED HANDS. DEMONSTRATIONS WERE HELD ON GOVERNMENT CONCERNS DEMANDING JOBS FOR MAHARASHTRIANS, AND MANY OF THESE TURNED VIOLENT.IN 1972, AN ORGANISATION CALLED THE STHANIYA LOKADHIKAR SAMITI (SLS) WAS SET UP. IN A BID TO ATTRACT WHITE COLLAR EMPLOYEES, THE SLS SET UP ITS UNITS IN LARGE GOVERNMENT AND SEMI-GOVERNMENT CONCERNS LIKE THE RBI,SBI, LIC, GIC, AIR INDIA, RAILWAYS, OTHER NATIONALISED BANKS AND SO ON. IN MANY OF THESE CONCERNS THERE WERE ALL INDIA UNIONS LED BY THE LEFT, WHICH PROVED DIFFICULT TO BREAK. HENCE, THE SLS TRIED A NEW TACTIC. IT CONCENTRATED ON THE DEMAND THAT 80 PER CENT OF THE STAFF MUST BE MAHARASHTRIANS AND FOCUSSED EXCLUSIVELY ON THREE MAIN QUESTIONS AFFECTING THE MARATHI EMPLOYEES, VIZ, RECRUITMENT, TRANSFERS AND PROMOTIONS. IT BACKED UP THIS CAMPAIGN BY DEMONSTRATIONS AND OTHER INTIMIDATORY MEASURES. THIS ENABLED THE SHIV SENA TO ATTRACT THE MIDDLE CLASSES.IN ANOTHER EFFORT TO PLAY THE REGIONAL CHAUVINIST CARD, THE SHIV SENA TOOK UP THE UNRESOLVED MAHARASHTRA-KARNATAKA BORDER DISPUTE. THIS RESULTED IN THE FIRST FULL-SCALE RIOT UNLEASHED BY THE SHIV SENA IN MUMBAI IN FEBRUARY 1969.ATTACKS ON COMMUNISTS AND ON WORKING CLASS UNITYANTI-COMMUNISM, ATTACKS ON WORKING CLASS UNITY AND SERVING AS A HANDMAID OF THE CAPITALISTS ARE ALL PART OF FASCISTIC IDEOLOGY AND PRACTICE. THE SHIV SENA DISPLAYED ALL THESE FEATURES IN AMPLE MEASURE RIGHT FROM ITS INCEPTION. IT MADE THE COMMUNISTS ITS FOREMOST POLITICAL TARGET. AND IN THIS ENDEAVOUR, IT RECEIVED UNSTINTED SUPPORT FROM BIG BUSINESS, THE CONGRESS STATE GOVERNMENT AND LARGE SECTIONS OF THE CAPITALIST-CONTROLLED MEDIA.BUT THE SHIV SENA DID NOT STOP AT VERBAL PROPAGANDA ALONE. EGGED ON BY BIG BUSINESS, IT STARTED USING THE MARATHI CHAUVINIST CARD TO BREAK WORKING CLASS UNITY. WITH SOME GROUND THUS PREPARED, IT BEGAN TO DISPLAY ITS MUSCLE POWER TO BREAK COMMUNIST-LED STRIKES, OVERTHROW THE ESTABLISHED AITUC/CITU UNION AND REPLACE IT WITH THE SHIV SENA UNION WHICH WOULD THEN SIGN AN AMICABLE AGREEMENT WITH THE MANAGEMENT. IN THIS STRIKE-BREAKING PROCESS, SEVERAL MILITANT WORKERS OF THE COMMUNIST-LED UNIONS WOULD BE DISMISSED AND REPLACED BY SHIV SAINIKS TO STRENGTHEN THE SHIV SENA HOLD IN THE FACTORY.SOME MAJOR EXAMPLES OF COMMUNIST-LED UNIONS THAT WERE BROKEN IN THIS MANNER WERE THE AITUC UNIONS OF LARSEN AND TOUBRO, T. MANEKLAL AND PARLE BOTTLING PLANT IN MUMBAI, AND THE CITU UNIONS OF DEVIDAYAL CABLES, WYMAN GORDON AND SURENDRA INDUSTRIES IN THANE. BUT THERE WERE ALSO MANY OTHER INSTANCES WHERE THE CITU AND AITUC SUCCEEDED IN REPULSING THIS SHIV SENA ONSLAUGHT. NEVERTHELESS, TAKING THE PICTURE AS A WHOLE, IT IS TRUE THAT COMMUNIST-LED UNIONS DID SUFFER MAJOR SETBACKS DURING THIS PERIOD.IN ORDER TO GIVE THIS DRIVE AN ORGANISED CHANNEL, THE SHIV SENA SET UP ITS OWN TRADE UNION, THE BHARATIYA KAMGAR SENA (BKS) ON AUGUST 9, 1968. THE ANTI-WORKING CLASS STAND OF THE SHIV SENAN BECAME CRYSTAL CLEAR WHEN IT PUBLICLY OPPOSED THE STATE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES STRIKE AND THE TEXTILE WORKERS STRIKE IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES AND BACKED THIS UP BY OPPOSING THE GREAT RAILWAY STRIKE OF 1974.THERE WAS ONE MAJOR SECTION OF THE WORKING CLASS WHOSE SUPPORT AT THE UNION LEVEL CONTINUED TO ELUDE THE SHIV SENA , AND THIS WAS THE THEN THREE LAKH STRONG TEXTILE WORKERS OF MUMBAI, A LARGE MAJORITY BEING MAHARASHTRIANS. HISTORICALLY, THE TEXTILE WORKERS HAD LONG BEEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE GIRNI KAMGAR UNION (GKU) THAT WAS LED BY THE COMMUNISTS. THEY HAD FOUGHT AND WON SEVERAL MILITANT STRIKE-STRUGGLES UNDER COMMUNIST LEADERSHIP RIGHT SINCE THE TWENTIES. HERE THE SHIV SENA BEGAN TO USE THE MOST REPREHENSIBLE TACTICS BASED ON OUTRIGHT VIOLENCE AND NAKED TERROR.IN DECEMBER 1967, THE CPI HEADQUARTERS OF MUMBAI AT DALVI BUILDING IN PAREL, WHICH IS SITUATED IN THE VERY MIDST OF THE TEXTILE AREA, WAS SAVAGELY ATTACKED BY SHIV SENA ACTIVISTS AND ALMOST DESTROYED. ORGANISED ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO BREAK UP COMMUNIST PUBLIC MEETINGS AND SEVERAL LEADERS AND ACTIVISTS OF BOTH THE CPI AND THE CPI(M) WERE PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED. THE CLIMAX WAS REACHED ON JUNE 6, 1970, WHEN ARMED ACTIVISTS OF THE SHIV SENA MURDERED THE SITTING MLA OF THE CPI, KRISHNA DESAI. KRISHNA DESAI WAS A POPULAR AND MILITANT MASS LEADER IN THE TEXTILE BELT AND HAD BEEN ELECTED MUNICIPAL CORPORATOR FOUR TIMES BEFORE HE WAS ELECTED TO THE STATE ASSEMBLY IN 1967. THIS WAS THE FIRST MAJOR POLITICAL ASSASSINATION IN MUMBAI SINCE INDEPENDENCE, AND IT SENT SHOCK WAVES THROUGH THE CITY AND STATE. THE LEADERSHIP OF THE ENTIRE OPPOSITION ALONGWITH THOUSANDS OF INCENSED WORKERS, MARCHED IN KRISHNA DESAI’S FUNERAL PROCESSION. OPPOSITION LEADERS DIRECTLY ACCUSED THE SHIV SENA AND THE CONGRESS STATE GOVERNMENT IN GENERAL, AND BAL THACKERAY AND VASANTRAO NAIK IN PARTICULAR, OF BEING HAND IN GLOVE IN THE PERPETRATION OF THIS HEINOUS CRIME.COMMUNAL, CASTEIST AND AUTHORITARIAN SLANTTHE COMMUNAL AND CASTEIST MOBILISATION OF THE SHIV SENA STARTED IN A BIG WAY IN THE MID-EIGHTIES. BUT EVEN IN THIS FIRST PHASE, THE SHIV SENA SLANT BECAME CLEAR FROM A FEW STRIKING INSTANCES. THACKERAY PERSONALLY INTERVENED ON THE SIDE OF THE HINDUS IN TWO MANDIR-MASJID DISPUTES, WHICH HE UTILISED TO RAKE UP COMMUNAL TENSIONS. ONE WAS THE DURGADI SHRINE AT KALYAN IN THANE DISTRICT; THE OTHER WAS THE MAHIKAVATI SHRINE AT MAHAD IN RAIGAD DISTRICT. BUT THE BIGGEST COMMUNAL INCIDENT IN WHICH THE SHIV SENA WAS INVOLVED IN ITS EARLY YEARS WAS THE BHIWANDI RIOTS OF MAY 1970, WHICH ALSO SPREAD TO MAHAD AND JALGAON. THE RIOTS WERE IGNITED IN CONNECTION WITH A SHIV JAYANTI PROCESSION. 43 PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN BHIWANDI, 39 IN JALGAON AND PROPERTY WORTH CRORES WAS DESTROYED. THE JUSTICE MADON COMMISSION OF INQUIRY SQUARELY LAID THE BLAME ON THE FOLLOWING ORGANISATIONS FOR THE RIOTS: SHIV SENA, JAN SANGH, HINDU MAHASABHA, RASHTRIYA UTSAV MANDAL AND BHIWANDI SEVA SAMITI (BOTH RSS OUTFITS) AND ALL INDIA MAJLIS TAMIR-E-MILLAT.AS FOR THE CASTEIST SLANT, THE FIRST FLASH POINT CAME IN JANUARY 1974, WHEN THERE WAS A VIOLENT CLASH BETWEEN THE SHIV SENA AND THE DALIT PANTHERS. THE DALIT PANTHERS WAS SET UP IN 1972, BOTH AS A CHALLENGE TO THE INJUSTICE OF THE SOCIAL SYSTEM AND AS A REBELLION AGAINST THE THEN MORIBUND AND DIRECTIONLESS REPUBLICAN PARTY OF INDIA (RPI). THE PANTHERS BEGAN BY TAKING UP BOTH CASTE AND CLASS ISSUES AND ALSO LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN TO EXPOSE THE REGRESSIVE ASPECTS OF SOME HINDU RELIGIOUS TENETS. CAPITALISING ON CERTAIN SPEECHES MADE BY PANTHER LEADERS ABOUT HINDU DEITIES, THE SHIV SENA UNLEASHED RIOTS AGAINST DALITS IN THE WORLI BDD CHAWLS IN MUMBAI. THE RIOTS THEN SPREAD TO OTHER AREAS OF THE CITY AND CONTINUED FOR A WEEK. DALIT PANTHER LEADER BHAGWAT JADHAV WAS BRUTALLY KILLED BY SHIV SENA ACTIVITIES. THUS BEGAN THE FEUD OF THE SHIV SENA AGAINST THE DALIT COMMUNITY.ELECTORAL OPPORTUNISM GALOREAT THE BIRTH OF THE SHIV SENA , THACKERAY HAD DECLARED THAT IT WAS ONLY A SOCIAL ORGANISATION THAT TREATED POLITICS WITH CONTEMPT. BUT WITHIN JUST SIX MONTHS OF THAT STATEMENT, THE SHIV SENA HAD PLUNGED INTO POLITICS. ITS FIRST ENTRY DURING THE PARLIAMENTARY AND ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS OF 1967 WAS INDIRECT AND NEGATIVE. IT DID NOT CONTEST ANY SEATS ITSELF, BUT GAVE A CALL FOR THE DEFEAT OF LOK SABHA CANDIDATES IN MUMBAI LIKE V.K. KRISHNA MENON (BECAUSE HE WAS AN “OUTSIDER”), S.A. DANGE (BECAUSE HE WAS A COMMUNIST) AND GEORGE FERNANDES (BECAUSE HE WAS A SOCIALIST). MENON LOST, BUT THE OTHER TWO WON. THE RANK OPPORTUNISM OF THE SHIV SENA BECAME EVIDENT DURING THIS ELECTION ITSELF. WHEN IT SUPPORTED THE THEN BOMBAY CONGRESS BOSS S.K. PATIL AGAINST FERNANDES, AFTER HAVING LAMPOONED PATIL SAVAGELY FOR SEVEN YEARS IN THE COLUMNS OF “MARMIK” FOR HIS ANTI-MAHARASHTRIAN STANCES. IN LATER PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, THE SHIV SENA FULLY SUPPORTED NAVAL TATA OF THE HOUSE OF TATAS, MADE HUGE SUMS OF MONEY AND ALSO EXPOSED ITS CLASS BIAS. IT ALSO SUPPORTED RETIRED GENERAL OF THE ARMY, K.M. CARIAPPA, ALTHOUGH HE WAS AN “OUTSIDER”.LATER THE SAME YEAR, 1967, THE SHIV SENA FOUGHT THE THANE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS WON 17 OF THE 40 SEATS AND MANAGED TO INSTALL ITS OWN MAYOR. THIS WAS THE FIRST ELECTORAL BREAKTHROUGH FOR THE SHIV SENA. THE NEXT YEAR IN 1968 CAME THE ELECTIONS TO THE BOMBAY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION (BMC). HERE, THE SHIV SENA AND THE PRAJA SAMAJWADI PARTY (PSP) SHOCKED THE POLITICAL WORLD BY CONCLUDING AN ELECTORAL ALLIANCE.THE SHIV SENA WON 42 OF THE 140 SEATS IN THE BMC, THE PSP WON 11, BUT THE CONGRESS STILL EMERGED AS THE LARGEST PARTY WITH 65. THE CPI, HOWEVER, WAS REDUCED FROM 18 SEATS WON IN 1961 TO ONLY 3 IN 1968, THE PWP WAS DECIMATED FROM 8 TO NIL, AND THE NEWLY-FORMED CPI(M) WON 2. TWO YEARS LATER, IN OCTOBER 1970, THE ASSEMBLY BY-ELECTION NECESSITATED BY KRISHNA DESAI’S MURDER WAS, NARROWLY WON BY THE SHIV SENA , DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE CPI HAD PUT UP KRISHNA DESAI’S WIFE AS ITS CANDIDATE. THE WINNER, WAMANRAO MAHADIK, THUS BECAME THE FIRST SHIV SENA MLA IN THE STATE ASSEMBLY. THESE ELECTION RESULTS WERE AN OMINOUS INDICATION THAT THE ANTI-COMMUNIST CAMPAIGN OF THE SHIV SENA WAS BEGINNING TO BEAR FRUIT.FOR THE NEXT BMC ELECTIONS OF 1973, THE SHIV SENA FORGED AN ALLIANCE WITH THE RPI LED BY R.S. GAVAI! THE SHIV SENA ALMOST RETAINED ITS OLD STRENGTH BY WINNING 39 SEATS, BUT THE RPI HAD TO BE CONTENT WITH JUST 1. SUDHIR JOSHI OF THE SHIV SENA WAS ELECTED MAYOR WITH THE SUPPORT OF ONE CONGRESS FACTION, THE RPI, AND – THIS IS THE ASTOUNDING PART – WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CORPORATORS OF THE MUSLIM LEAGUE!IN EARLY 1975, THACKERAY’S RELIABLE MENTOR VASANTRAO NAIK WAS MADE TO STEP DOWN AS CHIEF MINISTER AFTER A RECORD 12-YEAR LONG TENURE, WHICH STILL REMAINS UNMATCHED IN THE HISTORY OF THE STATE. HE WAS REPLACED BY S.B.CHAVAN, A LEADER FROM MARATHWADA WHO WAS FOISTED FROM DELHI.SERVILE SUPPORT TO EMERGENCYIN THE BEGINNING OF THE EMERGENCY, THERE WERE RUMOURS THAT ALONGWITH THE RSS AND OTHER BANNED ORGANISATIONS, THE SHIV SENA WOULD ALSO BE BANNED AND ITS LEADERS PUT BEHIND BARS. BUT THACKERAY STALLED ANY SUCH MOVE BY DECLARING FULL SHIV SENA SUPPORT TO THE EMERGENCY, OVERRULING THE MISGIVINGS OF SOME OF HIS MINIONS. HE THEN BUTTRESSED THIS BY PUBLICLY SINGING PRAISES OF NOT ONLY INDIRA GANDHI BUT ALSO SANJAY GANDHI. THUS, THROUGHOUT THE EMERGENCY, THE SHIV SENA LAY COMPLETELY DOCILE AND DORMANT, RAISING NO CONTENTIOUS ISSUES AND LEADING NO FIERY AGITATIONS. ITS DAY-TO-DAY “SHAKHA” FUNCTIONING AND ROUTINE TRADE UNION WORK WENT ON, BUT IN MUTED FASHION.IN A SENSE, THE SHIV SENA SUPPORT TO THE EMERGENCY WAS IDEOLOGICALLY CONSISTENT WITH ITS OFT-REPEATED, FASCISTIC ADULATION OF DICTATORSHIP. HOWEVER, IT IS WIDELY BELIEVED THAT THACKERAY TOOK THIS STAND BECAUSE HE WAS TERRIFIED AT THE PROSPECT OF AN INDEFINITELY LONG JAIL TERM. THE ONE BRIEF STINT THAT HE HAD OF JAIL LIFE IN 1969 HAD BEEN FOR HIM A DREADFUL EXPERIENCE, AND HE WOULD DO ANYTHING TO AVOID A REPEAT OF THE SAME.MARGINALISATION OF THE SHIV SENASHIV SENA SUPPORT TO THE CONGRESS (I) CONTINUED EVEN AFTER THE EMERGENCY AND THE SUBSEQUENT ROUT OF THAT PARTY. IN THE 1977 LOK SABHA ELECTIONS, THE SHIV SENA DID NOT CONTEST A SINGLE SEAT; INSTEAD, IT WORKED FOR THE CONGRESS. THE REVULSION OF THE PEOPLE AGAINST THE CONGRESS ALSO REBOUNDED ON THE SHIV SENA AND THE OPPOSITION MADE A CLEAN SWEEP OF ALL THE LOK SABHA SEATS FROM MUMBAI. THE SAME YEAR, IN THE BOMBAY MAYORAL ELECTION, THE SHIV SENA BACKTRACKED ON ITS OWN EARLIER ASSURANCE TO SUPPORT THE OPPOSITION AND INSTEAD SUPPORTED THE CANDIDATURE OF CONGRESS CANDIDATE MURLI DEORA, WHO WON. IN THE 1978 ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS, THE SHIV SENA CONTESTED SOME SEATS ON ITS OWN BUT DREW A COMPLETE BLANK. AND IN THE BMC ELECTIONS SOON AFTER, ITS STRENGTH WAS CUT DOWN BY HALF; IT WON ONLY 21 SEATS OUT OF 140 AS AGAINST 42 AND 39 THAT IT HAD WON IN THE EARLIER TWO ELECTIONS. THERE WAS NOW NO DOUBT THAT SHIV SENA INFLUENCE EVEN IN ITS CITADEL OF MUMBAI WAS BEGINNING TO WANE.IN THE LOK SABHA ELECTIONS OF 1980, HELD AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE JANATA PARTY RULE AT THE CENTRE, THE CONGRESS(I) STAGED A COMEBACK. INDIRA GANDHI PROMPTLY DISMISSED SEVERAL OPPOSITION-LED STATE GOVERNMENTS, WHICH INCLUDED THE PDF REGIME IN MAHARASHTRA, AND FRESH ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS WERE HELD. THE CONGRESS(I) SWEPT THE POLLS AND, IN ORDER TO TEACH A LESSON TO THE MARATHA LOBBY THAT HAD OPPOSED HER, SHE FOISTED A.R. ANTULAY AS THE CHIEF MINISTER. THACKERAY AND ANTULAY HAD ALWAYS BEEN THE BEST OF FRIENDS; INDEED, SO SPECIAL WAS THEIR RELATIONSHIP THAT THE SHIV SENA DID NOT CONTEST THE 1980 ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS AT ALL – INSTEAD, IT WORKED FOR THE CONGRESS(I)! RETURNING THE FAVOUR, ANTULAY GOT THREE SHIV SENA LEADERS ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL WITH CONGRESS(I) SUPPORT! ALL THE ABOVE EVENTS SHOWED TO WHAT EXTENT THE SHIV SENA HAD BEEN MARGINALISED DURING THIS PERIOD.THE EARLY EIGHTIES IN MAHARASHTRA, AS ELSEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY, SAW THE FIRST STIRRINGS OF A NEW DRIVE LAUNCHED BY THE FORCES OF HINDU COMMUNALISM, WHICH WAS SPEARHEADED BY THE RSS-CONTROLLED SANGH PARIVAR. CAPITALISING ON EVENTS LIKE THE MEENAKSHIPURAM CONVERSIONS, TERRORISM IN PUNJAB AND KASHMIR, CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES IN THE NORTH-EAST AND SO ON, THE VHP BEGAN TO MAKE DIRECT APPEALS FOR HINDU CONSOLIDATION TO MEET THESE CHALLENGES. GANGA JAL YATRAS WERE TAKEN OUT ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND THE RAM JANMABHOOMI-BABRI MASJID DISPUTE WAS DELIBERATELY RAKED UP. THE COMMUNAL CAULDRON WAS BEING STIRRED UP BY THE SAFFRON BRIGADE.THE COMMUNAL CARDTHE SHIV SENA INAUGURATED ITS NEW COMMUNAL DRIVE WITH THE GHASTLY COMMUNAL RIOTS IN BHIWANDI, KALYAN, THANE AND MUMBAI THAT WERE UNLEASHED IN MAY 1984. THE PROVOCATION FOR THE RIOTS WAS A PUBLIC SPEECH BY THACKERAY WHEREIN HE MADE DEROGATORY REMARKS AGAINST THE PROPHET, MOHAMMED PAIGAMBAR. THESE REMARKS WERE PRINTED IN EXAGGERATED FORM BY SOME URDU PAPERS. AS A REACTION TO THIS, IN FAR-OFF PARBHANI IN THE MARATHWADA REGION, A CONGRESS MLA, A.R. KHAN ORGANISED A LARGE PROTEST ACTION IN WHICH THACKERAY’S PHOTO WAS GARLANDED WITH SHOES. THIS IGNITED THE FUSE WHICH LED THE SHIV SENA TO UNLEASH MASSIVE RIOTS IN WHICH AT LEAST 258 PEOPLE WERE KILLED, THOUSANDS INJURED AND PROPERTY WORTH CRORES DESTROYED. THE RIOTS WERE REPLETE WITH TERRIBLE INSTANCES OF CRUELTY, THE MOST HEINOUS BEING THE ANSARI BAUG MASSACRE AT BHIWANDI. IT HAS BEEN CLEARLY ESTABLISHED THAT THE MAIN CULPRIT IN THESE RIOTS WAS THE SHIV SENA.WHILE THE BUILD-UP TO THESE RIOTS, CONSISTING OF RABID COMMUNAL PROPAGANDA AND EVEN COLLECTION OF WEAPONS, WAS GOING ON OPENLY FOR TWO MONTHS IN MUMBAI AND BHIWANDI, THE GOVERNMENT DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. THE ATTITUDE OF THE POLICE NOT ONLY REFLECTED THIS COMPLETE APATHY, BUT IT ALSO HAD ADDITIONAL COMMUNAL BIAS. EVEN AFTER THE RIOTS, NO ACTION WAS EVER TAKEN AGAINST THACKERAY OR ANY OF THE OTHER CULPRITS.IN THE LOK SABHA ELECTIONS OF 1984 HELD IN THE WAKE OF INDIRA GANDHI’S ASSASSINATION, THE SHIV SENA FOR THE FIRST TIME CONCLUDED AN ELECTION ALLIANCE WITH THE BJP. BUT IN THE SYMPATHY WAVE THAT FOLLOWED THE ASSASSINATION, THE CONGRESS(I) SWEPT THE POLLS, WINNING A RECORD 43 OF THE 48 SEATS IN MAHARASHTRA. THE SS-BJP ALLIANCE, WHICH DREW A BLANK, WAS DISSOLVED SOON AFTER, TO BE REFORGED IN A MORE LASTING FORM FIVE YEARS LATER. IN THE 1985 ASSEMBLY POLLS, THE SHIV SENA FOUGHT ON ITS OWN AND CHHAGAN BHUJBAL BECAME THE LONE SHIV SENA CANDIDATE TO GET ELECTED AS MLA. POLITICALLY, THE SHIV SENA WAS STILL DOWN IN THE DUMPS.RESURRECTION OF THE SHIV SENATHE RESURRECTION OF THE SHIV SENA TOOK PLACE IN THE BMC ELECTIONS OF 1985, AND AFTER THAT IT HAS NEVER LOOKED BACK. THESE ELECTIONS WERE HELD WITHIN A FEW MONTHS OF THE ASSEMBLY POLLS IN WHICH THE SHIV SENA HAD BEEN CLOBBERED, WINNING JUST ONE SOLITARY SEAT, OUT OF THE 34 SEATS IN MUMBAI AND 288 SEATS IN MAHARASHTRA. BUT JUST BEFORE THIS ELECTION, A VERY SIGNIFICANT INCIDENT TOOK PLACE. WHEN ASKED BY SHIV SENA MLC PRAMOD NAVALKAR IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, IF THERE WERE ANY PLANS TO SEPARATE BOMBAY FROM MAHARASHTRA AND MAKE IT A UNION TERRITORY, CHIEF MINISTER VASANTDADA PATIL HIMSELF GAVE THE FOLLOWING REPLY: “I DO NOT KNOW IF THERE IS SUCH A PROPOSAL, BUT WE WILL FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL IF ANYONE TRIES TO SEPARATE BOMBAY FROM MAHARASHTRA”! ACTUALLY, THERE WAS NEVER ANY SUCH PROPOSAL, AND BOTH PATIL AND THE SHIV SENA KNEW IT ONLY TOO WELL. BUT THIS CALCULATED REPLY WAS ENOUGH TO SET THE CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS, AND IT WAS ON THIS SINGLE ISSUE THAT THE SHIV SENA WHIPPED UP REGIONAL SENTIMENTS, AND WON THE ELECTIONS WITH 78 SEATS OF THE 170 AT STAKE!CAPITALISING ON ITS VICTORY, THE SHIV SENA LOST NO TIME IN THREATENING ANOTHER ASSAM-TYPE AGITATION TO RID BOMBAY OF ALL “OUTSIDERS”. THACKERAY EVEN WENT TO THE EXTENT OF DEMANDING THAT 1972 BE CONSIDERED AS THE CUT-OFF DATE, THAT ALL NON-MAHARASHTRIANS WHO HAD SETTLED IN MUMBAI AFTER THAT DATE BE DRIVEN OUT AND THAT NEW LAWS BE FRAMED TO STOP FURTHER INFLUX OF “OUTSIDERS” INTO THE CITY. NONE OF THIS, OF COURSE, EVER CAME INTO EFFECT, BUT THE SHIV SENA OFTEN GAVE SUCH THREATS EVEN IN LATER YEARS.IN 1986, THE “HOMECOMING” OF SHARAD PAWAR TO THE CONGRESS(I) PROVED TO BE ANOTHER BIG BONANZA FOR SHIV SENA EXPANSION IN MAHARASHTRA. THIS CREATED A VACUUM IN THE OPPOSITION SPACE WHICH THE SHIV SENA AND THE BJP, WITH THEIR COMMUNAL APPEAL ON THE ASCENDANT, BEGAN TO FILL. THIS WAS FURTHER AIDED BY THE RISING INCIDENCE OF INNER-CONGRESS FACTIONALISM, WHICH RESULTED IN ALL TOO FREQUENT CHANGES OF CONGRESS CHIEF MINISTERS AND THEIR CABINETS DURING THE EIGHTIES. THERE WERE AS MANY AS SIX CHIEF MINISTERS IN TEN YEARS. THESE WERE IMPORTANT REASONS FOR SS-BJP GROWTH DURING THIS PERIOD.ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT REASON THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE GROWTH OF THE SHIV SENA AND THE BJP DURING THE LATE EIGHTIES AND EARLY NINETIES WAS THE DECLINE OF THE SHETKARI SANGHATANA LED BY SHARAD JOSHI. THIS ORGANISATION, WHICH CAME TO PROMINENCE IN THE LATE SEVENTIES AND EARLY EIGHTIES AROUND THE ONE-POINT PROGRAMME OF REMUNERATIVE PRICES FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE, CLEARLY REPRESENTED THE LANDLORD LOBBY AND THE RICH PEASANTRY. BUT IT MOBILISED THOUSANDS OF PEASANTS IN MAHARASHTRA FOR MILITANT AGITATIONS AROUND CROPS LIKE ONIONS, TOBACCO, SUGARCANE AND COTTON. ALTHOUGH IT CLAIMED TO BE ALOOF FROM POLITICS, IN THE EIGHTIES IT GENERALLY THREW ITS WEIGHT BEHIND SELECTED THIRD FRONT CANDIDATES. BUT IN THE EARLY NINETIES, SHARAD JOSHI REVEALED HIS TRUE COLOURS AS AN UNASHAMED CHAMPION OF THE LIBERALISATION POLICIES AND THE GATT AGREEMENT. IT WAS THIS THAT LED TO A SPLIT IN THE SHETKARI SANGHATANA AND TO A NOSEDIVE IN SHARAD JOSHI’S INFLUENCE IN THE PEASANTRY. THE PEASANT AGITATIONS ALSO DECLINED. IT WAS IN THESE YEARS THAT SECTIONS OF THE PEASANTRY WHO HAD BEEN LET DOWN BY THE SHETKARI SANGHATANA AND WHO WERE DISILLUSIONED WITH THE CONGRESS, BEGAN TO GRAVITATE TOWARDS THE SHIV SENA AND THE BJP.LATER, SHARAD JOSHI FORMED A NEW PARTY CALLED THE SWATANTRA BHARAT PARTY WHICH WAS WIPED OUT IN SUCCESSIVE ELECTIONS AND JOSHI WAS HIMSELF DEFEATED A COUPLE OF TIMES. IN 1999, HE REACHED THE NADIR OF POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM. THE SAME SHARAD JOSHI, WHO IN HIS HEYDAY USED TO PUBLICLY LASH OUT AT THE SS-BJP AS “COMMUNAL VULTURES”, NOW PLEADED WITH THACKERAY TO ACCOMMODATE SOME OF HIS CANDIDATES IN THE SS-BJP ALLIANCE! WHEN THACKERAY REFUSED, JOSHI TURNED TO SHARAD PAWAR .THE HINDUTVA CAMPAIGN AND STATEWIDE COMMUNAL RIOTSIN NOVEMBER 1986, THE SHIV SENA GAVE A CALL FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF A “SAFFRON WEEK” ALL OVER THE STATE TO PROPAGATE ITS VERSION OF HINDUTVA. THIS WAS IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE RAJIV GANDHI REGIME’S OPPORTUNISTIC DECISIONS AS REGARDS THE SHAH BANO CASE AND THE OPENING OF THE LOCK OF THE AYODHYA SHRINE. THE “SAFFRON WEEK” WAS USED FOR THE AIRING OF RABID COMMUNAL PROPAGANDA AND FOR THE STARTING OF SHIV SENA “SHAKHAS” IN VILLAGES. ALL THIS SET THE STAGE FOR COMMUNAL RIOTS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE STATE READMORE .MOTHER FUCKER S. DHINABALAN HINDU PRIESTS IS DIRECTLY COLLABORATING WITH SHIV SENA AND RSS THE CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE AND HATRED
HE LATEST MANIFESTATION OF SEMI-FASCIST TERROR UNLEASHED BY THE CHAUVINIST POLITICAL OUTFIT SHIV SENA ON ANY ONE AND EVERY ONE WHO DARES TO DIFFER WITH IT AS BECOME A SUBJECT OF NATIONAL CONCERN. MEDIA, MINORITIES, BOTH LINGUISTIC AND RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL PARTIES, TRADE UNIONS, FILM STARS, CRICKETERS, INDUSTRIALISTS- THE SHIV SENA SPARES NONE. THE SHIV SENA LEADER AND FORMER LOKSABHA SPEAKER MANOHAR JOSHI UNABASHEDLY SAID: OUR BOYS WILL NOT TOLERATE ANYBODY WHO CRITISISES SHIVA SENA’S SUPREMO BAL THAKEREY. BAL THACKERAY’S VITUPERATIVE ATTACK DOES NOT SPARE EVEN INDIA’S LEGENDARY CRICKETER SACHIN TENDULKAR.
THE LATEST ACTS OF SHIV SENA ARE NEITHER NEW, NOR WILL BE THE LAST. THE HISTORY OF SHIV SENA REVEALS THIS.
THE SHIV SENA, DURING NEARLY FOUR AND A HALF DECADES OF ITS EXISTENCE, HAS ALWAYS SYMBOLISED THE SEMI-FASCIST FACE OF REACTION. THE RAPID GROWTH OF THE SHIV SENA IN MAHARASHTRA SINCE THE MID-EIGHTIES IS, IN FACT, CLOSELY LINKED TO THE PARALLEL GROWTH OF THE SAFFRON BRIGADE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL DURING THE SAME PERIOD.
THE SHIV SENA HAS SYSTEMATICALLY TARGETTED DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF MINORITIES IN A CYNICAL ATTEMPT TO BUILD ITS MASS SUPPORT. SUCH MINORITY TARGETS HAVE INCLUDED NON-MAHARASHTRIANS, MUSLIMS AND DALITS. THE COMMUNAL RIOTS AND CASTE ATROCITIES UNLEASHED BY THE SHIV SENA CONSTITUTE ONE OF THE BLACKEST CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF MAHARASHTRA.
THE LINKS OF THE SHIV SENA WITH MAFIA GANGS, ORGANISED CRIME, EXTORTION RACKETS AND CORRUPTION SCANDALS ARE NOTORIOUS.
RABID ANTI-COMMUNISM HAS BEEN A FUNDAMENTAL AND CONSISTENT PLANK OF THE SHIV SENA EVER SINCE ITS INCEPTION. IT IS THIS ASPECT THAT HAS ENSURED IT THE FIRM SUPPORT OF BIG BUSINESS.
IT WAS THE RULING CONGRESS PARTY THAT NURTURED AND SUPPORTED THE SHIV SENA FOR OVER TWO DECADES FROM THE MID-SIXTIES TO THE MID-EIGHTIES. IN THE EARLY PHASE, THIS SUPPORT WAS GIVEN TO BREAK THE COMMUNIST HOLD OVER THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT IN MUMBAI; IN THE LATER PHASE, IT WAS TO SETTLE FACTIONAL SCORES WITHIN THE CONGRESS ITSELF. AT THE SAME TIME, IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT, WITH THE SOLE EXCEPTION OF THE COMMUNISTS, ALL OTHER OPPOSITION PARTIES IN THE STATE HAVE ALSO COLLABORATED WITH THE SHIV SENA AT VARIOUS TIMES, THEIR LEADERS SHARING THE PLATFORM WITH THE SHIV SENA SUPREMO AND SOME OF THEM EVEN GOING TO THE EXTENT OF STRIKING ELECTORAL ALLIANCES WITH THE SHIV SENA IN LOCAL ELECTIONS.
THE SHIV SENA HAS ALWAYS BEEN UNDER THE AUTHORITARIAN GRIP OF ITS DEMAGOGIC SUPREMO BAL THACKERAY, WHO HAS NEVER DISGUISED HIS CONTEMPT FOR DEMOCRACY AND ADULATION OF DICTATORSHIP. HIS SERVILE SUPPORT TO THE EMERGENCY WAS COUCHED IN THESE IDEOLOGICAL TERMS. THACKERAY HAS PUBLICLY GLORIFIED THE LIKES OF ADOLF HITLER AND NATHURAM GODSE.
THE GENESIS OF THE SHIV SENA
THE SHIV SENA WAS FOUNDED ON JUNE 19, 1966 WITH THE AVOWED INTENTION OF FIGHTING THE ALLEGED INJUSTICE IN EMPLOYMENT AND OTHER MATTERS BEING FACED BY THE MAHARASHTRIANS IN MUMBAI. THE REASON CITED FOR THIS INJUSTICE WAS THE INFLUX INTO MUMBAI OF PEOPLE FROM OTHER STATES, AMONGST WHOM THE SHIV SENA MAINLY TARGETTED SOUTH INDIANS. IT THEN SIMULTANEOUSLY TOOK UP CUDGELS AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS, BRANDING THEM AS ANTI-NATIONAL, AND LAUNCHED ITS STRIKE-BREAKING ACTIVITIES AND OTHER ATTACKS AGAINST THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT. THE BIAS AGAINST MUSLIMS AND DALITS WAS VERY MUCH THERE EVER SINCE ITS INCEPTION.
THE SPADEWORK FOR THE FORMATION OF THE SHIV SENA HAD STARTED SIX YEARS EARLIER, WITH THE LAUNCHING OF THE MARATHI WEEKLY “MARMIK” BY BAL THACKERAY ON AUGUST 13, 1960, JUST THREE MONTHS AFTER THE FORMATION OF THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA ON MAY 1, 1960. THE PUBLICATION OF THE FIRST ISSUE OF “MARMIK”, SIGNIFICANTLY, TOOK PLACE AT THE HANDS OF THE FIRST CHIEF MINISTER OF MAHARASHTRA AND A TOP CONGRESS LEADER, Y.B. CHAVAN!
THE SAMYUKTA MAHARASHTRA MOVEMENT
THE LAUNCHING OF “MARMIK”, WHICH BECAME A PRECURSOR TO THE FORMATION OF THE SHIV SENA, TOOK PLACE AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF A HUGE MASS MOVEMENT FOR SAMYUKTA MAHARASHTRA, I.E. A UNITED MAHARASHTRA INCLUSIVE OF MUMBAI, KONKAN, WESTERN MAHARASHTRA, VIDARBHA AND MARATHWADA REGIONS BUT EXCLUSIVE OF GUJARAT.
THE FORMATION OF A UNILINGUAL STATE OF MAHARASHTRA, WITH MUMBAI AS ITS CAPITAL, WAS ACHIEVED ON MAY DAY 1960 ONLY AFTER A LONG AND BITTER MASS STRUGGLE. THIS DEMOCRATIC STRUGGLE BEGAN IN 1955, LASTED FOR FIVE YEARS AND SACRIFICED 105 MARTYRS IN BRUTAL POLICE FIRING ORDERED BY THE MORARJI DESAI-LED STATE GOVERNMENT IN 1955-56. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED AND BRAVED LATHI-CHARGES IN THE COURSE OF THIS MOVEMENT. THE STRUGGLE WAS LED BY THE SAMYUKTA MAHARASHTRA SAMITI, WHICH MAINLY COMPRISED THE SOCIALISTS, COMMUNISTS AND OTHER DEMOCRATS.
THE SAMITI FOUGHT THE PARLIAMENTARY AND ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS OF 1957 JOINTLY AND SUCCEEDED IN GIVING A BIG JOLT TO THE CONGRESS, WHICH COULD SCRAPE THROUGH ONLY BECAUSE OF ITS SUPPORT IN GUJARAT AND VIDARBHA. THE SAME YEAR, THE SAMITI ALSO SWEPT THE BOMBAY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION POLLS, ROUTING THE CONGRESS. THE SAMYUKTA MAHARASHTRA MOVEMENT ACHIEVED VICTORY, BUT AS WE SHALL ANALYSE LATER, IT ALSO GAVE RISE TO A STRONG STREAK OF REGIONAL CHAUVINISM WHICH WAS LATER EXPLOITED BY “MARMIK” AND THE SHIV SENA TO THE HILT.
BAL THACKERAY HIMSELF, ALONG WITH SOME OTHERS WHO FORMED THE SHIV SENA, HAD BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE RSS IN THEIR EARLY YEARS, AND THIS HAD THE INEVITABLE IMPACT ON SHIV SENA IDEOLOGY AND ORGANISATION. THACKERAY WAS A CARTOONIST WHO DID A BRIEF STINT WITH THE “FREE PRESS JOURNAL”, AN ENGLISH DAILY IN MUMBAI. HE SOON FELL OUT WITH ITS MANAGEMENT AND STARTED HIS OWN WEEKLY “MARMIK”. FOR SIX YEARS, THACKERAY WROTE PROVOCATIVE PIECES IN “MARMIK”, HIGHLIGHTING INSTANCES OF INJUSTICE TO MAHARASHTRIANS IN MUMBAI, ESPECIALLY IN THE MATTER OF WHITE COLLAR JOBS. LISTS WERE REGULARLY PUBLISHED OF THE NAMES OF OFFICIALS IN GOVERNMENT CONCERNS AND PRIVATE COMPANIES, MAKING OUT THAT MOST OF THE OFFICERS WERE NON-MAHARASHTRIANS, MOSTLY SOUTH INDIANS.
THE TARGET OF “MARMIK” WAS NEVER THE CONGRESS GOVERNMENT POLICIES. BUT ITS TARGET WAS INVARIABLY THE “OUTSIDERS” WHO WERE SNATCHING AWAY JOBS FROM THE “SONS OF THE SOIL”. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THACKERAY ALWAYS MADE IT A POINT TO PRAISE THE CAPITALISTS, ALTHOUGH MOST OF THEM WERE NON-MARATHI, UNDER THE PLEA THAT IT WAS THEY WHO PROVIDED THE JOBS! HE ALSO STROVE TO BE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE CONGRESS RULERS, AND EVERY ANNIVERSARY FUNCTION OF “MARMIK” USED TO BE GRACED BY CONGRESS BIGWIGS.
THE PUBLIC RESPONSE TO THIS WEEKLY WAS, IN FACT, THE MAIN FACTOR THAT PROMPTED THACKERAY TO FORM THE SHIV SENA, AND IT WAS THIS “MARMIK” READERSHIP THAT EVENTUALLY BECAME THE NUCLEUS OF SEVERAL SHIV SENA ”SHAKHAS”, OR BRANCHES, IN THE URBAN BELT OF MUMBAI AND THANE DISTRICTS.
THE FIRST MASS RALLY OF THE SHIV SENA WAS HELD AT THE SHIVAJI PARK IN MUMBAI ON OCTOBER 30, 1966. IT WAS THE DAY OF DUSSEHRA, AND ON EVERY DUSSEHRA DAY IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS, SIMILAR SHIV SENA RALLIES HAVE BEEN HELD ON SHIVAJI PARK. LIKE THE “SHAKHA” CONCEPT, THIS PRACTICE, TOO, HAS BEEN LIFTED FROM THE RSS, WHICH HAS REGULARLY HELD ITS ANNUAL DUSSEHRA RALLIES AT NAGPUR. THERE WAS A LARGE TURN-OUT FOR THIS FIRST-EVER SHIV SENA RALLY, WHICH IS SAID TO HAVE SURPRISED THACKERAY HIMSELF. CONGRESS LEADER RAMRAO ADIK ALSO ADDRESSED THIS SHIV SENA RALLY.
THE CARD OF REGIONAL CHAUVINISM
THE TWO MAIN DEMANDS RAISED BY THE SHIV SENA WERE 80 PER CENT JOBS IN GOVERNMENT CONCERNS AND 80 PER CENT HOUSES IN STATE HOUSING BOARD COLONIES FOR MAHARASHTRIANS. IN SUPPORT OF THIS, A VIRULENT CAMPAIGN WAS UNLEASHED THROUGH THE LATE SIXTIES AND EARLY SEVENTIES. ATTACKS ON SOUTH INDIAN ESTABLISHMENTS BECAME A REGULAR FEATURE, AND IT WAS THEN THAT THE EXTORTION RACKET UNDER THE NAME OF “PROTECTION MONEY” BEGAN. IN 1968, CINEMA THEATRES SCREENING HINDI FILMS BROUGHT OUT BY SOUTH INDIAN PRODUCERS WERE ATTACKED AND THE SHOWS BROUGHT TO A HALT. THE SHOWS BEGAN ONLY WHEN CONSIDERABLE SUMS OF MONEY CHANGED HANDS. DEMONSTRATIONS WERE HELD ON GOVERNMENT CONCERNS DEMANDING JOBS FOR MAHARASHTRIANS, AND MANY OF THESE TURNED VIOLENT.
IN 1972, AN ORGANISATION CALLED THE STHANIYA LOKADHIKAR SAMITI (SLS) WAS SET UP. IN A BID TO ATTRACT WHITE COLLAR EMPLOYEES, THE SLS SET UP ITS UNITS IN LARGE GOVERNMENT AND SEMI-GOVERNMENT CONCERNS LIKE THE RBI,SBI, LIC, GIC, AIR INDIA, RAILWAYS, OTHER NATIONALISED BANKS AND SO ON. IN MANY OF THESE CONCERNS THERE WERE ALL INDIA UNIONS LED BY THE LEFT, WHICH PROVED DIFFICULT TO BREAK. HENCE, THE SLS TRIED A NEW TACTIC. IT CONCENTRATED ON THE DEMAND THAT 80 PER CENT OF THE STAFF MUST BE MAHARASHTRIANS AND FOCUSSED EXCLUSIVELY ON THREE MAIN QUESTIONS AFFECTING THE MARATHI EMPLOYEES, VIZ, RECRUITMENT, TRANSFERS AND PROMOTIONS. IT BACKED UP THIS CAMPAIGN BY DEMONSTRATIONS AND OTHER INTIMIDATORY MEASURES. THIS ENABLED THE SHIV SENA TO ATTRACT THE MIDDLE CLASSES.
IN ANOTHER EFFORT TO PLAY THE REGIONAL CHAUVINIST CARD, THE SHIV SENA TOOK UP THE UNRESOLVED MAHARASHTRA-KARNATAKA BORDER DISPUTE. THIS RESULTED IN THE FIRST FULL-SCALE RIOT UNLEASHED BY THE SHIV SENA IN MUMBAI IN FEBRUARY 1969.
ATTACKS ON COMMUNISTS AND ON WORKING CLASS UNITY
ANTI-COMMUNISM, ATTACKS ON WORKING CLASS UNITY AND SERVING AS A HANDMAID OF THE CAPITALISTS ARE ALL PART OF FASCISTIC IDEOLOGY AND PRACTICE. THE SHIV SENA DISPLAYED ALL THESE FEATURES IN AMPLE MEASURE RIGHT FROM ITS INCEPTION. IT MADE THE COMMUNISTS ITS FOREMOST POLITICAL TARGET. AND IN THIS ENDEAVOUR, IT RECEIVED UNSTINTED SUPPORT FROM BIG BUSINESS, THE CONGRESS STATE GOVERNMENT AND LARGE SECTIONS OF THE CAPITALIST-CONTROLLED MEDIA.
BUT THE SHIV SENA DID NOT STOP AT VERBAL PROPAGANDA ALONE. EGGED ON BY BIG BUSINESS, IT STARTED USING THE MARATHI CHAUVINIST CARD TO BREAK WORKING CLASS UNITY. WITH SOME GROUND THUS PREPARED, IT BEGAN TO DISPLAY ITS MUSCLE POWER TO BREAK COMMUNIST-LED STRIKES, OVERTHROW THE ESTABLISHED AITUC/CITU UNION AND REPLACE IT WITH THE SHIV SENA UNION WHICH WOULD THEN SIGN AN AMICABLE AGREEMENT WITH THE MANAGEMENT. IN THIS STRIKE-BREAKING PROCESS, SEVERAL MILITANT WORKERS OF THE COMMUNIST-LED UNIONS WOULD BE DISMISSED AND REPLACED BY SHIV SAINIKS TO STRENGTHEN THE SHIV SENA HOLD IN THE FACTORY.
SOME MAJOR EXAMPLES OF COMMUNIST-LED UNIONS THAT WERE BROKEN IN THIS MANNER WERE THE AITUC UNIONS OF LARSEN AND TOUBRO, T. MANEKLAL AND PARLE BOTTLING PLANT IN MUMBAI, AND THE CITU UNIONS OF DEVIDAYAL CABLES, WYMAN GORDON AND SURENDRA INDUSTRIES IN THANE. BUT THERE WERE ALSO MANY OTHER INSTANCES WHERE THE CITU AND AITUC SUCCEEDED IN REPULSING THIS SHIV SENA ONSLAUGHT. NEVERTHELESS, TAKING THE PICTURE AS A WHOLE, IT IS TRUE THAT COMMUNIST-LED UNIONS DID SUFFER MAJOR SETBACKS DURING THIS PERIOD.
IN ORDER TO GIVE THIS DRIVE AN ORGANISED CHANNEL, THE SHIV SENA SET UP ITS OWN TRADE UNION, THE BHARATIYA KAMGAR SENA (BKS) ON AUGUST 9, 1968. THE ANTI-WORKING CLASS STAND OF THE SHIV SENAN BECAME CRYSTAL CLEAR WHEN IT PUBLICLY OPPOSED THE STATE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES STRIKE AND THE TEXTILE WORKERS STRIKE IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES AND BACKED THIS UP BY OPPOSING THE GREAT RAILWAY STRIKE OF 1974.
THERE WAS ONE MAJOR SECTION OF THE WORKING CLASS WHOSE SUPPORT AT THE UNION LEVEL CONTINUED TO ELUDE THE SHIV SENA , AND THIS WAS THE THEN THREE LAKH STRONG TEXTILE WORKERS OF MUMBAI, A LARGE MAJORITY BEING MAHARASHTRIANS. HISTORICALLY, THE TEXTILE WORKERS HAD LONG BEEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE GIRNI KAMGAR UNION (GKU) THAT WAS LED BY THE COMMUNISTS. THEY HAD FOUGHT AND WON SEVERAL MILITANT STRIKE-STRUGGLES UNDER COMMUNIST LEADERSHIP RIGHT SINCE THE TWENTIES. HERE THE SHIV SENA BEGAN TO USE THE MOST REPREHENSIBLE TACTICS BASED ON OUTRIGHT VIOLENCE AND NAKED TERROR.
IN DECEMBER 1967, THE CPI HEADQUARTERS OF MUMBAI AT DALVI BUILDING IN PAREL, WHICH IS SITUATED IN THE VERY MIDST OF THE TEXTILE AREA, WAS SAVAGELY ATTACKED BY SHIV SENA ACTIVISTS AND ALMOST DESTROYED. ORGANISED ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO BREAK UP COMMUNIST PUBLIC MEETINGS AND SEVERAL LEADERS AND ACTIVISTS OF BOTH THE CPI AND THE CPI(M) WERE PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED. THE CLIMAX WAS REACHED ON JUNE 6, 1970, WHEN ARMED ACTIVISTS OF THE SHIV SENA MURDERED THE SITTING MLA OF THE CPI, KRISHNA DESAI. KRISHNA DESAI WAS A POPULAR AND MILITANT MASS LEADER IN THE TEXTILE BELT AND HAD BEEN ELECTED MUNICIPAL CORPORATOR FOUR TIMES BEFORE HE WAS ELECTED TO THE STATE ASSEMBLY IN 1967. THIS WAS THE FIRST MAJOR POLITICAL ASSASSINATION IN MUMBAI SINCE INDEPENDENCE, AND IT SENT SHOCK WAVES THROUGH THE CITY AND STATE. THE LEADERSHIP OF THE ENTIRE OPPOSITION ALONGWITH THOUSANDS OF INCENSED WORKERS, MARCHED IN KRISHNA DESAI’S FUNERAL PROCESSION. OPPOSITION LEADERS DIRECTLY ACCUSED THE SHIV SENA AND THE CONGRESS STATE GOVERNMENT IN GENERAL, AND BAL THACKERAY AND VASANTRAO NAIK IN PARTICULAR, OF BEING HAND IN GLOVE IN THE PERPETRATION OF THIS HEINOUS CRIME.
COMMUNAL, CASTEIST AND AUTHORITARIAN SLANT
THE COMMUNAL AND CASTEIST MOBILISATION OF THE SHIV SENA STARTED IN A BIG WAY IN THE MID-EIGHTIES. BUT EVEN IN THIS FIRST PHASE, THE SHIV SENA SLANT BECAME CLEAR FROM A FEW STRIKING INSTANCES. THACKERAY PERSONALLY INTERVENED ON THE SIDE OF THE HINDUS IN TWO MANDIR-MASJID DISPUTES, WHICH HE UTILISED TO RAKE UP COMMUNAL TENSIONS. ONE WAS THE DURGADI SHRINE AT KALYAN IN THANE DISTRICT; THE OTHER WAS THE MAHIKAVATI SHRINE AT MAHAD IN RAIGAD DISTRICT. BUT THE BIGGEST COMMUNAL INCIDENT IN WHICH THE SHIV SENA WAS INVOLVED IN ITS EARLY YEARS WAS THE BHIWANDI RIOTS OF MAY 1970, WHICH ALSO SPREAD TO MAHAD AND JALGAON. THE RIOTS WERE IGNITED IN CONNECTION WITH A SHIV JAYANTI PROCESSION. 43 PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN BHIWANDI, 39 IN JALGAON AND PROPERTY WORTH CRORES WAS DESTROYED. THE JUSTICE MADON COMMISSION OF INQUIRY SQUARELY LAID THE BLAME ON THE FOLLOWING ORGANISATIONS FOR THE RIOTS: SHIV SENA, JAN SANGH, HINDU MAHASABHA, RASHTRIYA UTSAV MANDAL AND BHIWANDI SEVA SAMITI (BOTH RSS OUTFITS) AND ALL INDIA MAJLIS TAMIR-E-MILLAT.
AS FOR THE CASTEIST SLANT, THE FIRST FLASH POINT CAME IN JANUARY 1974, WHEN THERE WAS A VIOLENT CLASH BETWEEN THE SHIV SENA AND THE DALIT PANTHERS. THE DALIT PANTHERS WAS SET UP IN 1972, BOTH AS A CHALLENGE TO THE INJUSTICE OF THE SOCIAL SYSTEM AND AS A REBELLION AGAINST THE THEN MORIBUND AND DIRECTIONLESS REPUBLICAN PARTY OF INDIA (RPI). THE PANTHERS BEGAN BY TAKING UP BOTH CASTE AND CLASS ISSUES AND ALSO LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN TO EXPOSE THE REGRESSIVE ASPECTS OF SOME HINDU RELIGIOUS TENETS. CAPITALISING ON CERTAIN SPEECHES MADE BY PANTHER LEADERS ABOUT HINDU DEITIES, THE SHIV SENA UNLEASHED RIOTS AGAINST DALITS IN THE WORLI BDD CHAWLS IN MUMBAI. THE RIOTS THEN SPREAD TO OTHER AREAS OF THE CITY AND CONTINUED FOR A WEEK. DALIT PANTHER LEADER BHAGWAT JADHAV WAS BRUTALLY KILLED BY SHIV SENA ACTIVITIES. THUS BEGAN THE FEUD OF THE SHIV SENA AGAINST THE DALIT COMMUNITY.
ELECTORAL OPPORTUNISM GALORE
AT THE BIRTH OF THE SHIV SENA , THACKERAY HAD DECLARED THAT IT WAS ONLY A SOCIAL ORGANISATION THAT TREATED POLITICS WITH CONTEMPT. BUT WITHIN JUST SIX MONTHS OF THAT STATEMENT, THE SHIV SENA HAD PLUNGED INTO POLITICS. ITS FIRST ENTRY DURING THE PARLIAMENTARY AND ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS OF 1967 WAS INDIRECT AND NEGATIVE. IT DID NOT CONTEST ANY SEATS ITSELF, BUT GAVE A CALL FOR THE DEFEAT OF LOK SABHA CANDIDATES IN MUMBAI LIKE V.K. KRISHNA MENON (BECAUSE HE WAS AN “OUTSIDER”), S.A. DANGE (BECAUSE HE WAS A COMMUNIST) AND GEORGE FERNANDES (BECAUSE HE WAS A SOCIALIST). MENON LOST, BUT THE OTHER TWO WON. THE RANK OPPORTUNISM OF THE SHIV SENA BECAME EVIDENT DURING THIS ELECTION ITSELF. WHEN IT SUPPORTED THE THEN BOMBAY CONGRESS BOSS S.K. PATIL AGAINST FERNANDES, AFTER HAVING LAMPOONED PATIL SAVAGELY FOR SEVEN YEARS IN THE COLUMNS OF “MARMIK” FOR HIS ANTI-MAHARASHTRIAN STANCES. IN LATER PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, THE SHIV SENA FULLY SUPPORTED NAVAL TATA OF THE HOUSE OF TATAS, MADE HUGE SUMS OF MONEY AND ALSO EXPOSED ITS CLASS BIAS. IT ALSO SUPPORTED RETIRED GENERAL OF THE ARMY, K.M. CARIAPPA, ALTHOUGH HE WAS AN “OUTSIDER”.
LATER THE SAME YEAR, 1967, THE SHIV SENA FOUGHT THE THANE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS WON 17 OF THE 40 SEATS AND MANAGED TO INSTALL ITS OWN MAYOR. THIS WAS THE FIRST ELECTORAL BREAKTHROUGH FOR THE SHIV SENA. THE NEXT YEAR IN 1968 CAME THE ELECTIONS TO THE BOMBAY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION (BMC). HERE, THE SHIV SENA AND THE PRAJA SAMAJWADI PARTY (PSP) SHOCKED THE POLITICAL WORLD BY CONCLUDING AN ELECTORAL ALLIANCE.
THE SHIV SENA WON 42 OF THE 140 SEATS IN THE BMC, THE PSP WON 11, BUT THE CONGRESS STILL EMERGED AS THE LARGEST PARTY WITH 65. THE CPI, HOWEVER, WAS REDUCED FROM 18 SEATS WON IN 1961 TO ONLY 3 IN 1968, THE PWP WAS DECIMATED FROM 8 TO NIL, AND THE NEWLY-FORMED CPI(M) WON 2. TWO YEARS LATER, IN OCTOBER 1970, THE ASSEMBLY BY-ELECTION NECESSITATED BY KRISHNA DESAI’S MURDER WAS, NARROWLY WON BY THE SHIV SENA , DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE CPI HAD PUT UP KRISHNA DESAI’S WIFE AS ITS CANDIDATE. THE WINNER, WAMANRAO MAHADIK, THUS BECAME THE FIRST SHIV SENA MLA IN THE STATE ASSEMBLY. THESE ELECTION RESULTS WERE AN OMINOUS INDICATION THAT THE ANTI-COMMUNIST CAMPAIGN OF THE SHIV SENA WAS BEGINNING TO BEAR FRUIT.
FOR THE NEXT BMC ELECTIONS OF 1973, THE SHIV SENA FORGED AN ALLIANCE WITH THE RPI LED BY R.S. GAVAI! THE SHIV SENA ALMOST RETAINED ITS OLD STRENGTH BY WINNING 39 SEATS, BUT THE RPI HAD TO BE CONTENT WITH JUST 1. SUDHIR JOSHI OF THE SHIV SENA WAS ELECTED MAYOR WITH THE SUPPORT OF ONE CONGRESS FACTION, THE RPI, AND – THIS IS THE ASTOUNDING PART – WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CORPORATORS OF THE MUSLIM LEAGUE!
IN EARLY 1975, THACKERAY’S RELIABLE MENTOR VASANTRAO NAIK WAS MADE TO STEP DOWN AS CHIEF MINISTER AFTER A RECORD 12-YEAR LONG TENURE, WHICH STILL REMAINS UNMATCHED IN THE HISTORY OF THE STATE. HE WAS REPLACED BY S.B.CHAVAN, A LEADER FROM MARATHWADA WHO WAS FOISTED FROM DELHI.
SERVILE SUPPORT TO EMERGENCY
IN THE BEGINNING OF THE EMERGENCY, THERE WERE RUMOURS THAT ALONGWITH THE RSS AND OTHER BANNED ORGANISATIONS, THE SHIV SENA WOULD ALSO BE BANNED AND ITS LEADERS PUT BEHIND BARS. BUT THACKERAY STALLED ANY SUCH MOVE BY DECLARING FULL SHIV SENA SUPPORT TO THE EMERGENCY, OVERRULING THE MISGIVINGS OF SOME OF HIS MINIONS. HE THEN BUTTRESSED THIS BY PUBLICLY SINGING PRAISES OF NOT ONLY INDIRA GANDHI BUT ALSO SANJAY GANDHI. THUS, THROUGHOUT THE EMERGENCY, THE SHIV SENA LAY COMPLETELY DOCILE AND DORMANT, RAISING NO CONTENTIOUS ISSUES AND LEADING NO FIERY AGITATIONS. ITS DAY-TO-DAY “SHAKHA” FUNCTIONING AND ROUTINE TRADE UNION WORK WENT ON, BUT IN MUTED FASHION.
IN A SENSE, THE SHIV SENA SUPPORT TO THE EMERGENCY WAS IDEOLOGICALLY CONSISTENT WITH ITS OFT-REPEATED, FASCISTIC ADULATION OF DICTATORSHIP. HOWEVER, IT IS WIDELY BELIEVED THAT THACKERAY TOOK THIS STAND BECAUSE HE WAS TERRIFIED AT THE PROSPECT OF AN INDEFINITELY LONG JAIL TERM. THE ONE BRIEF STINT THAT HE HAD OF JAIL LIFE IN 1969 HAD BEEN FOR HIM A DREADFUL EXPERIENCE, AND HE WOULD DO ANYTHING TO AVOID A REPEAT OF THE SAME.
MARGINALISATION OF THE SHIV SENA
SHIV SENA SUPPORT TO THE CONGRESS (I) CONTINUED EVEN AFTER THE EMERGENCY AND THE SUBSEQUENT ROUT OF THAT PARTY. IN THE 1977 LOK SABHA ELECTIONS, THE SHIV SENA DID NOT CONTEST A SINGLE SEAT; INSTEAD, IT WORKED FOR THE CONGRESS. THE REVULSION OF THE PEOPLE AGAINST THE CONGRESS ALSO REBOUNDED ON THE SHIV SENA AND THE OPPOSITION MADE A CLEAN SWEEP OF ALL THE LOK SABHA SEATS FROM MUMBAI. THE SAME YEAR, IN THE BOMBAY MAYORAL ELECTION, THE SHIV SENA BACKTRACKED ON ITS OWN EARLIER ASSURANCE TO SUPPORT THE OPPOSITION AND INSTEAD SUPPORTED THE CANDIDATURE OF CONGRESS CANDIDATE MURLI DEORA, WHO WON. IN THE 1978 ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS, THE SHIV SENA CONTESTED SOME SEATS ON ITS OWN BUT DREW A COMPLETE BLANK. AND IN THE BMC ELECTIONS SOON AFTER, ITS STRENGTH WAS CUT DOWN BY HALF; IT WON ONLY 21 SEATS OUT OF 140 AS AGAINST 42 AND 39 THAT IT HAD WON IN THE EARLIER TWO ELECTIONS. THERE WAS NOW NO DOUBT THAT SHIV SENA INFLUENCE EVEN IN ITS CITADEL OF MUMBAI WAS BEGINNING TO WANE.
IN THE LOK SABHA ELECTIONS OF 1980, HELD AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE JANATA PARTY RULE AT THE CENTRE, THE CONGRESS(I) STAGED A COMEBACK. INDIRA GANDHI PROMPTLY DISMISSED SEVERAL OPPOSITION-LED STATE GOVERNMENTS, WHICH INCLUDED THE PDF REGIME IN MAHARASHTRA, AND FRESH ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS WERE HELD. THE CONGRESS(I) SWEPT THE POLLS AND, IN ORDER TO TEACH A LESSON TO THE MARATHA LOBBY THAT HAD OPPOSED HER, SHE FOISTED A.R. ANTULAY AS THE CHIEF MINISTER. THACKERAY AND ANTULAY HAD ALWAYS BEEN THE BEST OF FRIENDS; INDEED, SO SPECIAL WAS THEIR RELATIONSHIP THAT THE SHIV SENA DID NOT CONTEST THE 1980 ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS AT ALL – INSTEAD, IT WORKED FOR THE CONGRESS(I)! RETURNING THE FAVOUR, ANTULAY GOT THREE SHIV SENA LEADERS ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL WITH CONGRESS(I) SUPPORT! ALL THE ABOVE EVENTS SHOWED TO WHAT EXTENT THE SHIV SENA HAD BEEN MARGINALISED DURING THIS PERIOD.
THE EARLY EIGHTIES IN MAHARASHTRA, AS ELSEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY, SAW THE FIRST STIRRINGS OF A NEW DRIVE LAUNCHED BY THE FORCES OF HINDU COMMUNALISM, WHICH WAS SPEARHEADED BY THE RSS-CONTROLLED SANGH PARIVAR. CAPITALISING ON EVENTS LIKE THE MEENAKSHIPURAM CONVERSIONS, TERRORISM IN PUNJAB AND KASHMIR, CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES IN THE NORTH-EAST AND SO ON, THE VHP BEGAN TO MAKE DIRECT APPEALS FOR HINDU CONSOLIDATION TO MEET THESE CHALLENGES. GANGA JAL YATRAS WERE TAKEN OUT ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND THE RAM JANMABHOOMI-BABRI MASJID DISPUTE WAS DELIBERATELY RAKED UP. THE COMMUNAL CAULDRON WAS BEING STIRRED UP BY THE SAFFRON BRIGADE.
THE COMMUNAL CARD
THE SHIV SENA INAUGURATED ITS NEW COMMUNAL DRIVE WITH THE GHASTLY COMMUNAL RIOTS IN BHIWANDI, KALYAN, THANE AND MUMBAI THAT WERE UNLEASHED IN MAY 1984. THE PROVOCATION FOR THE RIOTS WAS A PUBLIC SPEECH BY THACKERAY WHEREIN HE MADE DEROGATORY REMARKS AGAINST THE PROPHET, MOHAMMED PAIGAMBAR. THESE REMARKS WERE PRINTED IN EXAGGERATED FORM BY SOME URDU PAPERS. AS A REACTION TO THIS, IN FAR-OFF PARBHANI IN THE MARATHWADA REGION, A CONGRESS MLA, A.R. KHAN ORGANISED A LARGE PROTEST ACTION IN WHICH THACKERAY’S PHOTO WAS GARLANDED WITH SHOES. THIS IGNITED THE FUSE WHICH LED THE SHIV SENA TO UNLEASH MASSIVE RIOTS IN WHICH AT LEAST 258 PEOPLE WERE KILLED, THOUSANDS INJURED AND PROPERTY WORTH CRORES DESTROYED. THE RIOTS WERE REPLETE WITH TERRIBLE INSTANCES OF CRUELTY, THE MOST HEINOUS BEING THE ANSARI BAUG MASSACRE AT BHIWANDI. IT HAS BEEN CLEARLY ESTABLISHED THAT THE MAIN CULPRIT IN THESE RIOTS WAS THE SHIV SENA.
WHILE THE BUILD-UP TO THESE RIOTS, CONSISTING OF RABID COMMUNAL PROPAGANDA AND EVEN COLLECTION OF WEAPONS, WAS GOING ON OPENLY FOR TWO MONTHS IN MUMBAI AND BHIWANDI, THE GOVERNMENT DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. THE ATTITUDE OF THE POLICE NOT ONLY REFLECTED THIS COMPLETE APATHY, BUT IT ALSO HAD ADDITIONAL COMMUNAL BIAS. EVEN AFTER THE RIOTS, NO ACTION WAS EVER TAKEN AGAINST THACKERAY OR ANY OF THE OTHER CULPRITS.
IN THE LOK SABHA ELECTIONS OF 1984 HELD IN THE WAKE OF INDIRA GANDHI’S ASSASSINATION, THE SHIV SENA FOR THE FIRST TIME CONCLUDED AN ELECTION ALLIANCE WITH THE BJP. BUT IN THE SYMPATHY WAVE THAT FOLLOWED THE ASSASSINATION, THE CONGRESS(I) SWEPT THE POLLS, WINNING A RECORD 43 OF THE 48 SEATS IN MAHARASHTRA. THE SS-BJP ALLIANCE, WHICH DREW A BLANK, WAS DISSOLVED SOON AFTER, TO BE REFORGED IN A MORE LASTING FORM FIVE YEARS LATER. IN THE 1985 ASSEMBLY POLLS, THE SHIV SENA FOUGHT ON ITS OWN AND CHHAGAN BHUJBAL BECAME THE LONE SHIV SENA CANDIDATE TO GET ELECTED AS MLA. POLITICALLY, THE SHIV SENA WAS STILL DOWN IN THE DUMPS.
RESURRECTION OF THE SHIV SENA
THE RESURRECTION OF THE SHIV SENA TOOK PLACE IN THE BMC ELECTIONS OF 1985, AND AFTER THAT IT HAS NEVER LOOKED BACK. THESE ELECTIONS WERE HELD WITHIN A FEW MONTHS OF THE ASSEMBLY POLLS IN WHICH THE SHIV SENA HAD BEEN CLOBBERED, WINNING JUST ONE SOLITARY SEAT, OUT OF THE 34 SEATS IN MUMBAI AND 288 SEATS IN MAHARASHTRA. BUT JUST BEFORE THIS ELECTION, A VERY SIGNIFICANT INCIDENT TOOK PLACE. WHEN ASKED BY SHIV SENA MLC PRAMOD NAVALKAR IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, IF THERE WERE ANY PLANS TO SEPARATE BOMBAY FROM MAHARASHTRA AND MAKE IT A UNION TERRITORY, CHIEF MINISTER VASANTDADA PATIL HIMSELF GAVE THE FOLLOWING REPLY: “I DO NOT KNOW IF THERE IS SUCH A PROPOSAL, BUT WE WILL FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL IF ANYONE TRIES TO SEPARATE BOMBAY FROM MAHARASHTRA”! ACTUALLY, THERE WAS NEVER ANY SUCH PROPOSAL, AND BOTH PATIL AND THE SHIV SENA KNEW IT ONLY TOO WELL. BUT THIS CALCULATED REPLY WAS ENOUGH TO SET THE CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS, AND IT WAS ON THIS SINGLE ISSUE THAT THE SHIV SENA WHIPPED UP REGIONAL SENTIMENTS, AND WON THE ELECTIONS WITH 78 SEATS OF THE 170 AT STAKE!
CAPITALISING ON ITS VICTORY, THE SHIV SENA LOST NO TIME IN THREATENING ANOTHER ASSAM-TYPE AGITATION TO RID BOMBAY OF ALL “OUTSIDERS”. THACKERAY EVEN WENT TO THE EXTENT OF DEMANDING THAT 1972 BE CONSIDERED AS THE CUT-OFF DATE, THAT ALL NON-MAHARASHTRIANS WHO HAD SETTLED IN MUMBAI AFTER THAT DATE BE DRIVEN OUT AND THAT NEW LAWS BE FRAMED TO STOP FURTHER INFLUX OF “OUTSIDERS” INTO THE CITY. NONE OF THIS, OF COURSE, EVER CAME INTO EFFECT, BUT THE SHIV SENA OFTEN GAVE SUCH THREATS EVEN IN LATER YEARS.
IN 1986, THE “HOMECOMING” OF SHARAD PAWAR TO THE CONGRESS(I) PROVED TO BE ANOTHER BIG BONANZA FOR SHIV SENA EXPANSION IN MAHARASHTRA. THIS CREATED A VACUUM IN THE OPPOSITION SPACE WHICH THE SHIV SENA AND THE BJP, WITH THEIR COMMUNAL APPEAL ON THE ASCENDANT, BEGAN TO FILL. THIS WAS FURTHER AIDED BY THE RISING INCIDENCE OF INNER-CONGRESS FACTIONALISM, WHICH RESULTED IN ALL TOO FREQUENT CHANGES OF CONGRESS CHIEF MINISTERS AND THEIR CABINETS DURING THE EIGHTIES. THERE WERE AS MANY AS SIX CHIEF MINISTERS IN TEN YEARS. THESE WERE IMPORTANT REASONS FOR SS-BJP GROWTH DURING THIS PERIOD.
ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT REASON THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE GROWTH OF THE SHIV SENA AND THE BJP DURING THE LATE EIGHTIES AND EARLY NINETIES WAS THE DECLINE OF THE SHETKARI SANGHATANA LED BY SHARAD JOSHI. THIS ORGANISATION, WHICH CAME TO PROMINENCE IN THE LATE SEVENTIES AND EARLY EIGHTIES AROUND THE ONE-POINT PROGRAMME OF REMUNERATIVE PRICES FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE, CLEARLY REPRESENTED THE LANDLORD LOBBY AND THE RICH PEASANTRY. BUT IT MOBILISED THOUSANDS OF PEASANTS IN MAHARASHTRA FOR MILITANT AGITATIONS AROUND CROPS LIKE ONIONS, TOBACCO, SUGARCANE AND COTTON. ALTHOUGH IT CLAIMED TO BE ALOOF FROM POLITICS, IN THE EIGHTIES IT GENERALLY THREW ITS WEIGHT BEHIND SELECTED THIRD FRONT CANDIDATES. BUT IN THE EARLY NINETIES, SHARAD JOSHI REVEALED HIS TRUE COLOURS AS AN UNASHAMED CHAMPION OF THE LIBERALISATION POLICIES AND THE GATT AGREEMENT. IT WAS THIS THAT LED TO A SPLIT IN THE SHETKARI SANGHATANA AND TO A NOSEDIVE IN SHARAD JOSHI’S INFLUENCE IN THE PEASANTRY. THE PEASANT AGITATIONS ALSO DECLINED. IT WAS IN THESE YEARS THAT SECTIONS OF THE PEASANTRY WHO HAD BEEN LET DOWN BY THE SHETKARI SANGHATANA AND WHO WERE DISILLUSIONED WITH THE CONGRESS, BEGAN TO GRAVITATE TOWARDS THE SHIV SENA AND THE BJP.
LATER, SHARAD JOSHI FORMED A NEW PARTY CALLED THE SWATANTRA BHARAT PARTY WHICH WAS WIPED OUT IN SUCCESSIVE ELECTIONS AND JOSHI WAS HIMSELF DEFEATED A COUPLE OF TIMES. IN 1999, HE REACHED THE NADIR OF POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM. THE SAME SHARAD JOSHI, WHO IN HIS HEYDAY USED TO PUBLICLY LASH OUT AT THE SS-BJP AS “COMMUNAL VULTURES”, NOW PLEADED WITH THACKERAY TO ACCOMMODATE SOME OF HIS CANDIDATES IN THE SS-BJP ALLIANCE! WHEN THACKERAY REFUSED, JOSHI TURNED TO SHARAD PAWAR .
THE HINDUTVA CAMPAIGN AND STATEWIDE COMMUNAL RIOTS
IN NOVEMBER 1986, THE SHIV SENA GAVE A CALL FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF A “SAFFRON WEEK” ALL OVER THE STATE TO PROPAGATE ITS VERSION OF HINDUTVA. THIS WAS IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE RAJIV GANDHI REGIME’S OPPORTUNISTIC DECISIONS AS REGARDS THE SHAH BANO CASE AND THE OPENING OF THE LOCK OF THE AYODHYA SHRINE. THE “SAFFRON WEEK” WAS USED FOR THE AIRING OF RABID COMMUNAL PROPAGANDA AND FOR THE STARTING OF SHIV SENA “SHAKHAS” IN VILLAGES. ALL THIS SET THE STAGE FOR COMMUNAL RIOTS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE STATE READMORE .MOTHER FUCKER S. DHINABALAN HINDU PRIESTS IS DIRECTLY COLLABORATING WITH SHIV SENA AND RSS THE CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE AND HATRED
Every political party has colluded in this change; even though self-proclaimed secular parties encourage Muslims to indulge in the self-delusion that a dispute exists. In truth, all that the BJP can offer is to build a bigger temple, which does not quite have the same emotive force as ‘Mandir yahin banayenge!’ The BJP’s cousins, the Senas of Maharashtra, have regional chauvinism to fall back upon. If the BJP wants to reclaim national space, it will have to establish another horizon.The most saddening event in Malaysia’s politics today is the screening of the new May 13 movie - Tanda Putera. What is the country coming to?
Barisan Nasional, which calls itself as a caring government and the 'only alternative' in this country refuses to lift a finger to stop this madness! But it's time Malaysians told them - stop it!
For God's sake, stop damaging racial relations in this country any further. If Malaysians don't want you at the 13th general election, please accept defeat graciously and leave. You can always come back in 5 years time but Malaysians cannot afford another 5 years of such evil scheming aimed to destroy the fabric of our own society just so that the BN can stay in power.
It is really sickening to see a faltering government conjuring controversy after controversy to try and justify its right to rule, only to be caught in the act time after time for false representation. You can kid the Rakyat once or twice, maybe three times but you can’t kid them all of the time. Malaysians are not that dumb.
Too late for BN to garner a mandate?
No right thinking Malaysian would allow BN to have a two thirds majority. BN should be contented with either a two-party system or get ready to warm up the Opposition bench.
The polls delay has caused so many unpleasant incidents to emerge that many Malaysians already view the Federal Government as nothing more than a bunch of power-brokers struggling desperately to stay in power at any cost. That’s how dim the scenario looks today!
Screening such a controversial movie is simply the last straw for most Malaysians. The May13 incident is a ‘dark horror episode’ that should remain buried in the past.
Digging it up to remind Malaysians of the cruelty, madness, evil deeds and murderous intents of masses running ‘amok’ in the streets chopping everyone up in a blood bath is a perverse condition of unstable rulers who should belong in a mental institution, not governing our nation.
Copycat threats
It also reminds us of the mass shooting during the premiere screening of ‘the Dark Knight’ when an unstable American tried to copy ‘the Joker’ and gunned down 12 people in cold blood, injuring scores of other victims.
What does the government hope to gain from screening such a film as Tanda Putera? With its depiction of hideous atrocities and racial slurs, is the May 13 movie expected to remind the audience of our illustrious history or to be taught a 'new' history where Umno's role is washed clean and it is all Lim Kit Siang's fault. Yet the DAP adviser was not even in Kuala Lumpur but in East Malaysia when the May 13 incident broke out in 1969.
The REAL HORROR of May 13
Other reports at the time suggest that over 2,000 were killed by rioters stirred up by Umno Youth and mainly in Kuala Lumpur. Many of the dead were quickly buried in unmarked graves in the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital grounds.
Thousands were injured and maimed for life. It was almost a full-scale war. Even the death toll from all the ‘Rambo’ movies combined hardly touched 200 casualties. And now the BN government, for its own motives, thinks that it is good idea for Malaysians to be reminded about its sordid past.
Although, many Malaysians know the real truth leading up to these events, the BN government has no qualms as to distorting the accuracy of the events depicted in the movie.
May 13 movie to make the Malays hate the Chinese: Chong Wei to appease the Chinese
Now, on its final leg leading up to the GE-13, the BN government is desperate to grasp at something that can sway the people - in this case, the Malays - against the Chinese.All the talk about 1Malaysia sounds so hollow when the authorities have no wish to enforce or embrace the concept. Even making a national her o of badminton star Lee Chong Wei won't help because the people know Prime Minister Najib Razak is playing a devious game.
He is using May 13 to get the Malays to hate the Chinese and using Chong Wei to appease the Chinese that this is 'not so bad' after all.
Somehow, with such fictitious sincerity, unity may indeed be a lost cause unless there is a regime change. For as long as the BN remains in power, it will see racial unity and integration as a direct threat to its hold over the country.
First Anwar, now gunning after Kit Siang
Ban the movie immediately for the distorted historical events and inaccuracies for these are dangerous and can be perpetuated as being the truth when it is anything but truthful.
Those who were born after May 13 and are gullible enough to believe Umno-BN would be telling their children and grandchildren 50 years from now that it was Kit Siang who started the racial riots.
But the fact remains, Kit Siang was not even in Kuala Lumpur. How could he have urinated on a flag pole bearing the Selangor flag at the residence of the then Mentri Besar Harun Idris?
After failing to convict Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, despite Sodomy I, Sodomy II and the awful Datuk T sex tap, are the Umno-BN now turning their attention to the DAP and Lim Kit Siang?
country if he ever becomes prime minister?” he asked.
ANOTHER SEASONED MOTHER FUCKER TRAINED IN HIS BIRTH PALACE MADRAS BY SHIVS SENA TO ‘INFILTRATE’ SCHOOLS OF PAS
(Datuk S. Nallakaruppan, bekas pengarah hal ehwal awam Magnum …. satu cubaan untuk memaksa bekas Pengarah Eksekutif Magnum Corporation … Kata Anwar: ”Bekas Ketua Polis Negara itu berkata orang ini lahir di Madras, Katanya: Lelaki India itu lahir di Madras, daripada miskin menjadi kaya …… bekas Pengarah Hal Ehwal Awam Magnum Corporation,
“He (Nallakaruppan) doesn’t have to reveal anything… We know who Nallakaruppan is,” PAS vice-president Datuk Dr Mahfuz Omar said.
Fifty years down the line, we have in the sub-continent Muslim … the form of collective hate, leading thousands of fanatic Sangh recruits to rape, plunder ….. 1980s, refer to the speeches made by Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray, recorded in the …. village level in Gujarat itself, to ‘infiltrate‘ schools of PAS
So no need to go to the trouble to reveal anything.”
Fellow party vice-president Salahuddin Ayub said he did not want to pay heed to ex MIC Nallakaruppan’s “request”.
“We will not humour him,” he said.
SHIV SENA AND RSS THE CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE AND HATRED
The top PAS leadership has decided to ignore Datuk S. Nallakaruppan’s offer to dish the dirt on Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, most recently hit by a sex video scandal.
PAS leaders would only offer terse comments on the offer when contacted by The Malaysian Insider today.
“He (Nallakaruppan) doesn’t have to reveal anything… We know who Nallakaruppan is,” PAS vice-president Datuk Dr Mahfuz Omar said.
“So no need to go to the trouble to reveal anything.”
Fellow party vice-president Salahuddin Ayub said he did not want to pay heed to Nallakaruppan’s “request”.
“We will not humour him,” he said.
PAS information chief Idris Ahmad similarly said the Islamist party would ignore Nallakaruppan, while PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali declined to comment.
Utusan Malaysia reported today that Nallakaruppan had said it was time for PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa and Mustafa to know the real Anwar.
“PAS leaders can pick the time and place. I am ready to meet with them to explain the truth about Anwar, the man they call a leader,” Nallakaruppan had said.
“It would be best if I met with those leaders because they are the ones who call the shots in the party.”
The Malaysian Indian United Party (MIUP) president said the meeting was crucial to saving the Malaysian people, especially the Malays and strong PAS supporters.
He pointed out that there were many things about Anwar, who is also PKR de facto leader, who the PAS leaders did not know and needed to be told about.
“Don’t let them continue believing that whatever is revealed about Anwar are mere allegations,” he said.
Nallakaruppan added that he was not at all surprised when the sex video which allegedly shows Anwar having sex with a prostitute surfaced last week.
The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) wants Datuk S. Nallakaruppan to brief the agency over his allegation that Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had received RM60 million from Magnum Corporation, of which he (Nallakaruppan) was a director.
As the allegation was serious, ACA Deputy Director-General I Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed said, Nallakaruppan who was once Anwar’s friend, would be called as soon as possible by the agency.
“We are advising him to lodge an official report with us to explain his allegation. We need to gather vital information pertaining to the matter.
“ACA can only begin a probe if there’s a (official) report, and not through hearsay.
“Therefore, we want him to brief us first,” he told reporters after the closing ceremony of the Executive Certificate C
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)- National Volunteers Association
The RSS was founded in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hegdewar is the ideological fountainhead of the modern Hindutva movement. Organized around the concept of Shakas, a local cell formation where young men would gather for physical and ideological training, under the tutelage of a brother or dada, the RSS ideology as espousing the national cause was articulated over the next decade or more. Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, who was anointed head of the RSS shortly before his death by Hegdewar, clarified the idea of the nation in his treatise “We, or Our Nationhood Defined”:
We belive that our notions today about the Nation are erroneous… It is but proper therefore, at this stage, to understand what the Western Scholars state as the Universal Nation idea and correct ourselves (p. 21).
Based on a racial idea of Nation Golwalkar in praise of Hitler says:
To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the semitic Races – the Jews… Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by (p. 35).
The above two quotes are only samples of what is a very clearly articulated twin pronged ideology of exclusion (of other races/religions) and supremacy (of Hindus). The RSS, cell like Shaka formation and the discipline inculcated within are central to its success as a fascist force. The RSS cultural and ideological work has not stayed within the boundaries of India. In the 1980′s the RSS itself broached out. The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), an organization modeled along RSS lines emerged in the US in the 1980′s, openly claiming allegiance to the founding principles of the RSS.
The RSS was founded in 1925 by the Maratha Brahmin Keshav Baliram Hegdewar [ Biju ] on the Aryan Vaishnava Holy day of Vijaya Dashami (the 10th day of the moon) when the Aryan invader Rama destroyed the Dravidian Empire of Lanka [ Sangh ]. This was done to symbolise its inherent anti-Sudra nature. Its organisation is highly skewed, with the Sar Sangh Chalak (supreme dictator) at the top [ Roots ]. This person can only be a Brahmin. It is the successor of Vivekananda and Arya Samaj in the Neo-Brahmanist fundamentalist movement. The militia is organised around local cells or `shakas’ where weapons are distributed to its hardcore members, who are drilled in a vigorous program of harsh discipline. Vishnu temples serve as repositories of weapons as well as centers of dissemination of its racist ideology of Aryan supremacy. Its only leaders have been blue-eyed Sarasvat Brahmins, a condition enshrined in its constitution. The Brahmin Golwalkar, the second leader of the RSS, was trained as one of the hardcore followers of Vivekananda.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- Indian People’s Party
This is Hindutva’s parliamentary front which constantly makes efforts to breach the secular formation through parliamentary actions – elections, pushing for legislations of various kinds, making visible the ideology in limited and constitutional ways within mainstream political discourse. The BJP came into existence after the collapse of the Janata Party which came to power after Mrs. Gandhi’s Emergency in 1979. The erstwhile Hindu parliamentary party – the Jan Sangh – had merged itself into the Janata Party in the wake of Emergency. However to call it a parliamentary party is to ignore its actual working. The party top leadership with few exceptions are all RSS cadre. The party participates in joint meetings with RSS leadership often. The election campaigns of the party are often significantly shaped and helped by RSS cadres of the local region campaigning for the party’s candidate. In short, in more than one ways the relation between BJP and other Hindutva organizations is quite clearly visible.Its top leaders are all hardcore Brahminist RSS cadres. All its leaders have been Brahmins too. Generally, RSS cadre graduate to the BJP.
VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad)- World Hindu Council
The VHP was founded on August 29, 1964 in Bombay with the clear aim of being the activist wing, that would undertake aggressive actions in civil society as a whole. The first general secretary of the VHP made its goals clear as follows:
It is therefore necessary in this age of competition and conflict to think of. and organise, the Hindu world to save itself from the evil eyes of all three {all three being Christianity, Islam and Communism).
(From the Organiser, Diwali Special, 1964.)
The VHP has gone on to do just that – spread out as a extra-parliamentary force throughout not just India, but the world. Its primary functions in India are to mobilize forces for agitational and violent purposes. It took part in the Cow Protection Movement though out the 60′s and the 70′s. The entire Babri Masjid movement was orchestrated by the VHP – steadfastly refusing to enter into any negotiation, rejecting the right of the judicial system in adjudicating on the issue and mobilizing often violent events with the clear intent of polarizing society and creating a political movement within public discourse of Hindutva – the Rath Yatras of the 1980′s and the final demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 were orchestrated by the VHP in association with its “youth wing” the Bajrang Dal. Again the strategy of the Hindutva combine as a whole is palpably apparent here. BJP leaders for instance would participate in VHP sponsored events, but when the results of such events came out – such as violence and killings – the BJP would conveniently distance itself temporarily from the VHP.
On the international front, the VHP’s success lies in mobilizing migrant Hindus, especially the middle class and lower middle class. The VHP of America and its student wing the Hindu Student Council (which is present on many US and Canadian campuses) is the most obvious example of its international mobilization. The VHP of America and HSC’s for instance conducted the the World Vision 2000 conference in Washington D.C in 1993, which became a rallying point for overseas Hindus and a ground for further recruitment in the wake of what many commentators called a “celebration” over the destruction of the mosque in India. The VHP of America and UK primary success can be seen if not in any other way in terms of financial clout – as it is the primary mode of channeling dollars and pounds into Hindutva politics back in India.
The council was established on August 29, 1964 in Bombay, Maharastra [ Biju ] with a political objective of establishing the supremacy of Hinduism all over the world. It obtains funds and recruits from Aryan Hindus all across the globe, especially from the US, UK and Canada and has grown to become the main fund-raising agency of Brahmanist Fundamentalism. The council was instrumental in the demolition of the holiest Islamic shrine in Oudh, the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya and has organised several massacres of Muslims and Christians. It is in the forefront in the call for a Hindu Rashtra, a Hindu State ethnically cleansed of its non-Aryan populations.
Bajrang Dal- Party of Hanuman
The militant wing of the VHP, it was formed “to counter `Sikh militancy’ ” during the Sikh Genocide of 1983-84 [ Bajrang ]. Created with the objective of the eradication of Sikhs which it has termed “Muslims in disguise”, its cadres fought alongside Congress-backed Hindutva militias during the massacre of 200,000 Sikhs under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Recruits carry a ” knife-like trident to be slung across the shoulder – an answer to the Sikh kirpan ” [ Bajrang ]. It has subsequently expanded its targets to include Muslims and Christians as well.
Ranvir Sena- Army of Ranvir
The militia was founded in 1994 by `the merger of several upper-caste private armies such as the Savarna Liberation front and the Sunlight Sena’ [ Rama ] in order to combat Maoist Dalit organisations. It is essentially the Brahmin private army of Bihar. Enjoying clandestine Government support, the organisation is devoted to anti-Dalit terrorism and the preservation of the Vedic apartheid system. Its militiamen are known to be heavily armed with the most modern weaponry which is financed by the VHP, and the Sena has openly claimed responsibility for numerous massacres of landless Dalit Blacks and mass rapes of Dalit women. Human Rights Watch estimates the private army has been responsible for more than 400 deaths [ HRW ].
Shiv Sena- Shiva’s Army
The Shiva Sena arose as a movement amongst Congress members. It intitially unleashed a `physical annihilation’ of Communists (who were mainly Black) and against Dalits, and organised the mass murder of Bombay’s once-influential Black South Indian communities (`lungiwallahs’) and Gujaratis [ Roots ]. Subsequently, it engaged in the mass murder of 3000 Muslims [ Sri ]
ABVP- Indian Universities Council
This front comprises students of Hindu religious schools (vidyalayas). It has expanded its base by infiltration into `secular’ universities. Its higher-ranking cadres are well-equipped with weaponry; they often organise communal campus disturbances against Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains. Most of its members graduate to become hardcore RSS and VHP militants.
Bharatiya Jan Sangh- Indic Race Party
Founded in October 1951 with the Bengal Brahmin Shyama Prasad Mookerjee as its president, who had resigned from the allied `soft’ Brahminist Congress in Apil 1950 [ Chandra ] was president until he died in 1953. Its cadres were carefully chosen indoctrinated activists. The second president, the Brahmin Mauli Chandra Sharma resigned in 1954 to protest against RSS domination of the party. It strove for an `Akhand Bharat’ [ Chandra ] ethnically cleansed of its Muslim, Christian and Black Sudroid Populations.
Hindu Mahasabha- Great Congress of Hindus
The Sabha began as `an extremist wing of the Congress Party’ [ Perry ] and was founded by the Maratha Brahmin Vinayak Damodar Sarvarkar. Influenced by `German racism’ [ Letter ] Sarvarkar sought to establish a racially pure Hindu state ethnically cleansed of its non-Hindu populations. Sarvarkar’s followers were involved in the brutal assasinations of of Sir Wyllie [ Sarvar ].
HSC (Hindu Students Council)- World Hindu Council
The `student wing’ of the VHP [ Biju ]. It conducted the the World Vision 2000 conference in Washington D.C in 1993 which was a celebration over the destruction of Babri Masjid and the attendant genocide of 5,000 Muslims [ Biju ]. It is involved in setting up hardcore Hindutva websites across the internet, spewing hatred against Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Sikhs.
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS)- Hindu Volunteers Association
The HSS was formed in the US in the 1980s, ` openly claiming allegiance to the founding principles of the RSS’ [ Biju ], in order to organise Hindu terrorists in America.
Arya Samaj- Society of Aryans
Founded by Dayanand Sarasvat (born 12 Feb 1824) [ Rao ] Swami Dayanand established the Arya Samaj in 1875. The Dayanand Anglo Vaidic schools (DAVs) are its propaganda wing, designed to raise a generation of brainwashed militants. Most of its students go on to become hardcore RSS and ABVP members. The Arya Samaj is the fountain of the Hindutva movement : `The rise of Hindu nationalism can be traced to the Arya Samaj in the late nineteenth century’ [ Perry ]. Dayananad Sarasvati was a bigoted anti-Islamist. This is what he had to say regarding Islam :
” Such teachings deserve to be utterly discarded. Such a book [ Quran ], such a prophet [ Mohammed ] and such a religion [ Islam ] do nothing but harm. The world would be better off without them. Wise men would do well to discard a religion so absurd and accept the Vedic faith which is absolutely free from error.” [Polemics], [ Sarasvati, p.633 ]
The raison-d’etre of the Arya Samaj was anti-Islamism and anti-Sikhism :
” Both of the early leaders of the militant Aryas, Pandit Lekh Ram and Lala Munshi Ram [in 1917 he became Swami Shraddhananda], died at the hands of Muslim assassins as a direct result of their involvement in communal activities — polemics and conversions. Lekh Ram was killed in 1897 due to hostile exchanges with the Ahmadiya sect of Qadian. Shraddhanand was murdered in 1926 due to his shuddhi activities in Delhi and the United Provinces.” [ Polemics ]
Ram Rajya Parishad
Council of the Kingdom of Ram
Formed with the explicit purpose of re-establishing Ram-Rajya (the Empire of Ram), its goal was the elimination of Sudroid Blacks (Dalits, Dravidians, Adivasis, Kolarians) and to establish a racially pure Aryan nation on the lines of Ram-Rajya. Jan Sangh, the Hindu Mahasabha and the Ram Rajya Parishad was 10 seats with 6.4 per cent of the votes. [ Chandra ] By 1967 it had disappeared.
Hindu hardliners have grown more vocal
Its founders felt the need to present Hinduism in a rigorous though simplified form which would be comparable to most other world religions. The superiority of other faiths was believed to stem from their being far less diffuse and more uniform than Hinduism.
VHP is a hardline Hindu outfit with unmistakably close ties to its parent organisation, the extremist RSS, whose objective to ‘Hinduise’ the Indian nation it shares.
Central to the RSS ideology has been the belief that real national unity and progress will come only when India is ‘purged’ of non-Hindus, or, when members of other communities subordinate themselves ‘willingly’ to ‘Hindu superiority.’
Linked groups
The VHP has tended to tone down the rhetoric of Hindu supremacy and even make an occasional distinction between fellow (Muslim) citizens of the present and (Muslim) ‘marauders’ of the past.
But the ambition of establishing a resurgent Hinduism by inculcating what some historians call a carefully constructed common ‘Hindu spirit’ is very much central to the VHP.
VHP extreme leaders Rallying for Nationalism in North India
The temple project enjoys a lot of support
This is also something it shares with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which currently leads the Indian Government at the centre.
Earlier known as the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the BJP was established in 1951 as a political wing of the RSS to counter rising public revulsion after the revered independence figure Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a former RSS member.
Some commentators say the party came close to obliteration in the 1960s with the Congress led by the charismatic and secular Jawaharlal Nehru, leaving little room for hardline communal politics.
But a political emergency announced by Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, in 1975 enabled the BJS leaders, Atal Behari Vajpayee and LK Advani among them, to gain near stardom after serving brief prison sentences.
Many women have joined the hardliners’ campaign,
But it didn’t really emerge as a political presence until the early 1980s. A series of events in that decade including the mass conversion of lower-caste Hindus to Islam pushed the BJP’s close affiliate, the VHP, to the forefront.
Historians say the VHP-led Hindu right considered the mass conversion of “dalits” or lower-caste Hindus to Islam to be an unforgivable insult.
The dalits, for centuries beholden to the upper castes, outraged Hindu hardliners by daring to convert at all, and moreover, convert to Islam.
The VHP saw this as a serious threat to its notion of Hinduism.
Despite murders of Dalit-Muslim converts, the leader of the VHP still claims the VHP are ‘peaceful’
It proceeded to whip up Hindu support for a re-defined communal force, organising a series of religious meetings, cross-country marches and processions through the 1980s.
This phase coincided with the launch of an electoral strategy by the BJP to corner and hold on to the “Hindu” vote.
Temple controversy
Following the success of their campaign, senior VHP leaders announced at a religious meeting in 1984 their programme to “liberate” a site in Ayodhya from an ancient mosque to make way for a temple to the Hindu god Ram.
Some ‘moderate’ Hindu leaders support the VHP
Analysts say this announcement heralded a turning point in the history of the Hindu nationalist movement.
The VHP has since then claimed that the site belongs rightfully to Hindu worshippers who believe that the mosque stood on the birthplace of the god, Lord Ram.
Although the claim does not stand up to substantial archaeological or historical scrutiny, the VHP and BJP are seen to have made possible the creation of a shared Hindu symbol that cuts through most divisions in Hindu society.
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