Shiv Sena (Marathi: शिव सेना Śiv Senā, meaning Army of Shiv, referring to Shivaji), is a political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray. The party originally emerged out of a movement in Mumbai, (then called Bombay), broadly favouring increased influence of Maharashtrians in Maharashtra. It built a strong base amongst the Marathi community in the sixties based on its ideology that Maharashtra belonged to the Marathi community and that they be given preference over migrants from other Indian states.
Although the party's primary base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to a pan-Indian base. Gradually the party moved from solely advocating a pro-Marathi ideology, to one supporting a broader Hindu nationalist agenda as it aligned itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party has taken part in numerous Maharashtra state governments at several times and was a coalition partner in the National Democratic Alliance cabinet that ruled India between 1998-2004. Members of Shiv Sena are referred to as Shiv Sainiks.
History
Origins
After the
Independence of India in 1947, regional administrative divisions from the colonial era were gradually changed and states following linguistic borders were created. Within the
Bombay Presidency a massive popular struggle was launched for the creation of a state for the Marathi-speaking people. In 1960 the presidency was divided into two linguistic states,
Gujarat and
Maharashtra. Moreover, Marathi-speaking areas of the erstwhile
Hyderabad state were joined with Maharashtra. Mumbai, in many ways the economic capital of India, became the state capital of Maharashtra. On one hand, people belonging to the
Gujarati community owned the majority of the industry and trade enterprises in the city. On the other, there was a steady flow of
South Indian migrants to the city, and who came to take over many white-collar employments.
In 1960 Balasaheb Thackeray, a Mumbai-based cartoonist, began publishing the satirical cartoon weekly Marmik. Through this publication he started disseminating anti-migrant sentiments. On 19 June 1966, Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena as a political organisation. At the time of its foundation, the Shiv Sena was not a political party as such.
Early years
The political approach of the Shiv Sena was centred around the concept of
bhumiputr (sons of the soil), the idea that Maharashtra inherently belonged to the Marathi community. The Shiv Sena was thus born out of a feeling of resentment about the relative marginization of the native Marathi people in their own state by people whom they perceived as outsiders.
The Shiv Sena especially attracted a large number of disgruntled and often unemployed Marathi youth, who were attracted by Thackeray's charged anti-migrant oratory. Shiv Sena cadres became involved in various attacks against the South Indian communities, vandalising South Indian restaurants and pressuring employers to hire Marathis.
Another main characteristic of the early years of the Shiv Sena was the frequent struggles against communist trade unions. Prior to the formation of the Shiv Sena, the Communist Party of India played a dominant role in labour politics in Mumbai. The Shiv Sena was supported by elements inside the Indian National Congress, who hoped that the new organization would be capable of weakening the communist trade union influence. Soon Shiv Sena cadres were involved in a series of violent conflicts with the communist trade union activists. In 1970 the CPI MLA of Dadar, Krishna Desai, was assassinated. CPI charged the Shiv Sena for the murder, and held Thackeray as responsible for the act.
1995 election
The Shiv Sena-BJP combine won the 1995 Maharasthra state elections. After assuming state government power, Shiv Sena began to redress its organisation. A 'Shivsena Rajyapramukh Parishad' convention was held in Mumbai six months after the election. At the meeting a large number of local party leaders and representatives of various wings of the party participated. The meeting filled the function of reorienting the party organisation to adapt to the new tasks of being a party in government.It renamed Bombay as
Mumbai.
Shift to Hindutva and alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party
The Sena started placing more weight on the
Hindutva ideology in the 1970s as the hallmark 'sons of the soil' cause was weakening. Raj Thackeray later founded a new party,
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). After the split, clashes have occurred between followers of the two Senas.
Although the MNS is a break-away group from the Shiv Sena, the party is still based on Hindutva and Bhumiputra ideologies. When unveiling the party in an assembly at Shivaji Park he said, that everyone is anxious to see what will happen to Hindutva. When unveiling, he also said,
"I shall elaborate on the party's stance on issues like Hindutva, its agenda for development of Maharashtra and the significance of the party flag colours at the 19 March public meeting."
Raj Thackeray considers himself an Indian nationalist (not just a regionalist) and claims that the Congress is two-faced.
Party structure
As the
Pramukh (Chief) of the party Balasaheb Thackeray takes all major decisions, and has claimed that he ran the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government of 1995 to 1999 with what he called a 'remote control.' Activists and members of the Shiv Sena call themselves
Shiv Sainiks, and carry out most of the party's grassroots work. In recent times, Thackeray does not concern himself with day-to-day activities of the party, which is run by his youngest son
Uddhav Thackeray.
The recently refurbished Sena Bhavan located in the Dadar locality in Mumbai has served as the headquarters of the Sena since 1976.
The Sena's shakhas (Branches) spread throughout the state of Maharashtra as well as in selected locations in other states decide upon most of the local issues in their particular cities or towns.
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|align=left|1980 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|2
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| style="text-align:right;"|129,351
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|align=left|1989 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|3
| style="text-align:right;"|1
| style="text-align:right;"|339,426
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1989 Goa Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|6
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|4,960
| style="text-align:right;"|
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|align=left|1991 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|22
| style="text-align:right;"|4
| style="text-align:right;"|2,208,712
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|align=left|1993 Madhya Pradesh Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|88
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|75,783
| style="text-align:right;"|
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|align=left|1996 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|132
| style="text-align:right;"|15
| style="text-align:right;"|4,989,994
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1996 Haryana Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|17
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|6,700
| style="text-align:right;"|
|-
|align=left|1997 Punjab Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|3
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|719
| style="text-align:right;"|
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|align=left|1998 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|79
| style="text-align:right;"|6
| style="text-align:right;"|6,528,566
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|align=left|1998 Delhi Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|32
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|9,395
| style="text-align:right;"|
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|align=left|1998 Himachal Pradesh Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|6
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|2,827
| style="text-align:right;"|
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|align=left|1999 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|63
| style="text-align:right;"|15
| style="text-align:right;"|5,672,412
| style="text-align:right;"|
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|align=left|1999 Goa Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|14
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|5,987
| style="text-align:right;"|
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|align=left|2000 Orisa Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|16
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|18,794
| style="text-align:right;"|
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|align=left|2001 Kerala Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|1
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|279
| style="text-align:right;"|
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|align=left|2002 Goa Assembly
| style="text-align:right;"|15
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|
| style="text-align:right;"|
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|align=left|2004 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|56
| style="text-align:right;"|12
| style="text-align:right;"|7,056,255
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|align=left|2009 Parliament
| style="text-align:right;"|22
| style="text-align:right;"|11
| style="text-align:right;"|6,828,382
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Recent electoral victories
The Shiv Sena achieved electoral victories in local
Maharashtra elections on February 2007, together with their partner the
Bharatiya Janata Party in the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and are set for another five year term. They have achieved this on the platform of preference to
Maharashtrians, which appealed to their vote bloc. The victory was noteworthy for reasons more than one. It means that by 2012, when the next BMC elections are due, the Shiv Sena would have ruled over Mumbai for an uninterrupted spell of 20 years. It was also a relief to the Junior Thackeray who personally supervised the campaign strategy.
The Sena-led combine, which had suffered serious reverses in all the assembly by-elections in the past two years got 111 of the 227 seats. Out of the declared 226 seats, the Sena has won 83 seats, BJP 28, the left-wing opponents, the Indian National Congress won 71, and other opposition groups Nationalist Congress Party won 14 and MNS won 7. especially in the public sector.
Dharavi emancipation
The Sena claims to have played a central role in the emancipation of 500,000 slum dwellers in the
Dharavi area of
Mumbai, the largest slum in Asia. However, the state's policy of giving free houses to slum dwellers has been mired in controversy ever since it was introduced by the Shiv Sena-BJP government a decade ago.
Improvements in infrastructure
In addition, the Sena has been active in trying to improve infrastructure in
Maharashtra, particularly in the financial capital of Mumbai. Nearly 40 flyovers in Mumbai and the
Mumbai-Pune Expressway were constructed under the Shiv Sena administration, which led to a significant infrastructural boom in Mumbai. While successive State governments have been guilty of neglecting Mumbai's transport problems, the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP government drastically altered the course. As quoted by a local newspaper, " by initiating a range of road schemes, the Sena unequivocally opted for private, motorised transport in preference to public transport." The report actually says that "critics castigate" this policy, pointing out that "only nine per cent" of the city's commuters use private transport.
These moves have been a crucial factor in its increasing popularity within India and the promises of further improvement have boosted the Shiv Sena's campaigns.
Other
Shiv Sena was involved in violence in
Kathua,
Jammu and Kashmir on 14 July 2008, as they were blocked by Central Reserve Police Force personnel from marching towards
Jammu city. The Sena was demonstrating against a decision by the government of
Kashmir to not hand over land to a Hindu shrine board, as the proposal had caused some of the largest protests in Kashmir's history, and stirred resentment and fears of "demographic dilution". Shiv Sena has raised the squadron on occasion since at least 1987, when 125 activists participated in what was termed "morale boosting" activities aimed at strengthening the Hindu community in
Punjab during the 1980s insurgency there. The group also vowed to send this squad to Srinagar in 2004 to hoist the Indian flag at the city's main intersection, Lal Chowk. Later that year, the Shiv Sena attempted to disrupt India and Pakistan from playing cricket in Delhi. Shiv Sena claims the members are willing to sacrifice their lives for what they believe is India's rightful existence as a Hindu nation.
Political incidents
Attack on CNN-IBN offices
The offices of
Hindi and
Marathi TV news channels
IBN-7 and
IBN-Lokmat in
Mumbai and
Pune were attacked and vandalised by Shiv Sena activists on 20 November 2009. Shiv Sena attributed the attacks to the criticisms of
Balasaheb Thackeray by the news channel over his remarks on
Sachin Tendulkar. Shiv Sena
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut described the attacks as "spontaneous". Various Shiv Sena spokespersons have been justifying the attacks.
Burning of Churches and Christians
On 22nd of February 2010 near elections, Hindu fundamentalist groups like Shiv Sena wage urban warfare in Goa. It was not the first time. Bishop of
Jalandhar condemns the "provocative actions", but calls on the faithful to peace and forgiveness. All this started on blasphemous picture of
Jesus Christ. . Before that, on September 2009 it was reported by Christian Persecution Update of India that at about 4 in the evening, some unknown miscreants belonging to the Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal outfits, attacked the church and the orphanage and destroyed whatever they could lay their hands upon including
Bible and Church. A brief known list of Hindu extremist activities since 1964 till 1998 against Indian Christians is also released by Delhi Magazine.
See also
Aditya Thackeray
Hindutva
Hindu Extremism
Hindu nationalist parties
Marathi nationalism
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
RSS
Belgaum border dispute
Nepal Shivsena
Babri Mosque
Asom Sena
Further reading
Books — Marathi
Bhosale, Harshad (2004): 'Mumbai Mahanagarpalika Nivadnuk' in Palshikar Suhas and Nitin Birmal (eds), Maharashtrache Rajkaran Pratima, Pune.
Maharashtratil Sattantar, Vora Rajendra and Suhas Palshikar, Granthali, Mumbai 1996
Bhosale, Harshad(2006),"Mumbaichya Vikasacha Arthik, Rajakiya Ani Samajik Sandarbha",in Bi monthly APLA PARAM MITRA, Sept-October 2006,year 5,issue-3.
Books — English
Ethnicity and Equality: The Shiv Sena Party and Preferential Policies in Bombay, MF Katzenstein - 1979 - Cornell University Press
Warriors in Politics: Hindu Nationalism, Violence, and the Shiv Sena in India, S Banerjee - 2000 - Westview Press
The Sena Story, Purandare Vaibhav, Business Publications, Mumbai,(1999)
The Charisma of Direct Action: Power, Politics, and the Shiv Sena, JM Eckert - 2003 - Oxford University Press
Nativism in a Metropolis: The Shiv Sena in Bombay, D Gupta - 1982 – Manohar (OUP 1996)
Shiv Sena: An Assessment, Palshikar, Suhas, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Pune, Pune (1999)
Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, 'Power', chapter 3, Mumbai, Mehta, Suketu, Penguin Books(2005)
Articles
The Rebirth of Shiv Sena: The Symbiosis of Discursive and Organizational Power, Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Uday Singh Mehta, Usha Thakkar, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 56, No. 2 (May, 1997), pp. 371–390
Saffronisation of the Shiv Sena, J Lele — Bombay: Metaphor for Modern India, 1995
Cultural Populism: The Appeal of the Shiv Sena, G Heuzé — Bombay: Metaphor for Modern India, 1995
The Shiv Sena's new avatar: Marathi chauvinism and Hindu communalism, R Sardesai - Politics in Maharashtra, 1995
The Rhetoric of Hindu Nationalism: A Narrative of Mythic Redefinition, Robert C. Rowland, Abhik Roy; Western Journal of Communication, Vol. 67, 2003
Regenerating Masculinity in the Construction of Hindu Nationalist Identity: A Case Study of Shiv Sena, Abhik Roy, Communication Studies, Volume 57, Number 2 / June 2006,
The Feminization of Violence in Bombay: Women in the Politics of the Shiv Sena, S Banerjee - Asian Survey, 1996
The vernacularisation of Hindutv: The BJP and Shiv Sena in rural Maharashtra, Thomas Blom Hansen Contributions to Indian Sociology, Vol. 30, No. 2, 177-214 (1996)
The Shiv Sena: A Movement in Search of Legitimacy R Joshi - Asian Survey, 1970
Origins of Nativism: The Emergence of Shiv Sena in Bombay MF Katzenstein - Asian Survey, 1973
Sardesai, Rajdeep 'Shiv Sena's New Avatar: Marathi Chauvinism and Hindu Communalism' in Usha Thakkar and Mangesh Kulkarni (eds), Politics in Maharashtra, Himalaya, Mumbai, pp 127–46 (1995)
" City of Mongrel Joy": Bombay and the Shiv Sena in Midnight's Children and The Moor's Last Sigh, R Trousdale - JOURNAL OF COMMONWEALTH LITERATURE, 2004
articles available in net
The Shiv Sena: An Eruption of Subnationalism, Morkhandikar R S, Economic and Political Weekly, 21 October, pp 1903–06 (1967
Shiv Sena: A Tiger with Many Faces? S Palshikar - Economic and Political Weekly, 2004
The Charisma of Autocracy Bal Thackeray's Dictatorship in Shiv Sena J Eckert — MANUSHI, 2002
Shiv Sena andNational'Hinduism, G Heuze — ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY, 1992
References
External links
Official Shiv Sena newspaper
Official Shiv Sena party website
Category:Political parties in Maharashtra
Category:Far-right politics in India
Category:Political parties in India
Category:Political parties established in 1966
Category:Religious violence in India
Category:Indian nationalist political parties
Category:Hindutva
Category:Hindu political parties
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