Azād is a word of Indo-Iranian origins, which means "free". It is used in the Indo-Iranian languages like Kurdish, Dari, Urdu, Persian and Punjabi. It is also used in Armenian. It may refer to:

People named Azad[link]

• Azad Shah Afghan, founder and first ruler of Azad dynasty
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Indian freedom-fighter
• Chandrasekhar Azad, Indian freedom-fighter
• Azad (Maoist) alias Cherukuri Rajkumar Spokesperson and Central Politburo member of Communist Party of India
• Azad (rapper), German rapper of Iranian-Kurdish descent (formerly a member of Asiatic Warriors)
• Afshan Azad, actress who played the character of Padma Patil in the Harry Potter films
• Humayun Azad, Bangladeshi author and scholar
• Mahmoud Mosharraf Azad Tehrani, Iranian poet
• Azad, a eunuch and companion in martyrdom of Simeon Barsabae

Places[link]

• Azadi Stadium, Iran's national and largest stadium
• Azad, Afghanistan
• Azat, Armenia
• Azad, Goranboy, Azerbaijan
• Azad, Goygol, Azerbaijan
• Azad Kashmir, disputed autonomous region within the state of Jammu and Kashmir in Pakistan

Entertainment[link]

• Azad (fictional game), a fictional game from the book The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
  • Azadians, the race playing the above game
• Azadi (album), album released by Pakistani rock band, Junoon
• Azaad (disambiguation), multiple Bollywood films
• Azad, a fictional region where most of the plot and gameplay of the videogame Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time takes place
• Azad (Telugu film)

Other[link]

• Azad Empire, an Afghan empire established by Azad Shah Afghan that ruled southern Caucaus, Kurdistan, north-western Persia and south-western Turkmenistan
• The Azad, a Bangla newspaper which was founded in Kolkata and later became the leading daily in East Bengal
• Azad Hind, collaborationist provisional government of Free India led by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in World War II
• Azad Hind Fauj, Indian National Army
• Islamic Azad University private chain of universities in Iran
• Azaad

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Kool Savas
Kool Savas in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Savaş Yurderi
Also known as	King Kool Savas (KKS), Juks, Jux, Essah
Born	(1975-02-10) February 10, 1975 (age 37) Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Origin	Turkey
Genres	German hip hop
Labels	Essah Entertainment
Associated acts	M.O.R., Azad, Samy Deluxe, Lumidee, 40 Glocc, Ying Yang Twins
Website	Official website

Savas Yurderi (born 10 February 1975) also known as Kool Savas (or as well King Kool Savas), is a German rapper and hip hop artist. Savas is mostly referred to as "King of Rap" or "King of German Rap".^[1]

"Savaş" is the Turkish word for "war".

Biography[link]

Born in Aachen, Germany to a German mother and a Turkish father, Savas' family moved back to Turkey when he was one year old. His father, who is from Çorum, Turkey, was arrested because of his political posture against the government in Turkey, and as a result of his father's arrest, his mother was forced to return to Aachen with Savas.^[2] By 1987, his father was released and the entire family was reunited and relocated to Berlin. It was in Berlin where Savas first came across Hip Hop music.^{[citation needed]}

Savas lived with his girlfriend, Melbeatz, in Berlin for an extended amount of time. As a result, the majority of Savas' beats were produced by her. Although Savas and his girlfriend are no longer together, they remain close friends.^{[citation needed]}

Although Savas is popularly called a "Berlin rapper," he resides in Heidelberg. He is also a vegetarian.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

2000: Early career[link]

Savas started his rap career with the EP Warum rappst du, containing rather provocative lyrics in songs such as "L.M.S.", "Schwule Rapper" and "Pimplegionär". He first started under the name Juks and rapped mostly in English. He became successful through the groups Masters of Rap (M.O.R.) and Westberlin Maskulin.

In 2001, he and all of M.O.R. left former label Put Da Needle To Da Records, because of personal and artistic differences. They released a diss track against former label CEO Peter Sreckovic titled "Track gegen Peter" where Savas gave reason for his exit.

Beginning in 2002, he founded his own label, Optik Records, where he released his first solo album titled Der beste Tag meines Lebens, for which he won a Comet award. For the album, Savas worked together with several domestic and foreign musicians including Azad, Samy Deluxe, Kurupt, 40 Glocc, Dem Franchize Boyz, Lumidee, RZA, Moses Pelham, J-Luv, Bligg, Jadakiss, Royce da 5'9", Xavier Naidoo, Mobb Deep, Ying Yang Twins and Illmatic. The album sold over 90,000 copies worldwide.

With his record label, Savas tried to build up other artists. He discovered Eko Fresh and signed many upcoming artists such as DJ Nicon, Melbeatz, Ercandize, Caput, Amar, Sinan and Moe Mitchell.

In 2004, Savas released his first mixtape, "Kool Savas goes Hollywood" which was later made available as free online download.

Since early 2005, Savas has been supporting the efforts of his younger brother Sinan, his cousin Dimi and his brother-in-law Igor in their blooming rap careers.

In 2005, he released his mixtape titled "Die John Bello Story". It was the most successful mixtape in Europe in 2005 and also Savas' best to date at over 60,000 sold copies. In the same year he produced the album "One", together with Azad. The hit single "All 4 One" peaked at 4 in the German Top 100 Singles.

In 2006, Savas released the label sampler "Optik Takeover", a collaboration with several other artists signed to Optik Records. Also in 2006, he released an album with Optik Schweiz, the Swiss counterpart of Optik Records, titled "Wer Hatz Erfunden".

His second solo album, Tot oder Lebendig (eng. Dead or Alive), was released in 2007 and proved to be successful at 50,000 sold copies.

Savas released the sequel mixtape "Die John Bello Story 2" in 2008. He then went on to release an updated version labeled the "Brainwash Edition".

In 2009, he released the EP "Was hat S.A.V da vor" with the Hip Hop Magazine Juice. The same year saw the release of a collaboration album with Optik Russia which was called "New Russian Standard".

On March 12, 2010, Savas released "Die John Bello Story 3" which sold roughly 50,000 copies. The album featured fellow rappers Azad, Curse, Ying Yang Twins, Olli Banjo, Ercandize, Moe Mitchell, Amar, Franky Kubrick, Kaas, Mo Trip, Sinan, Tua, Vega, Kitty Kat, Laas Unltd. and more.

His 2011 album Aura included a single with the same name and a song featuring Xavier Naidoo, titled LMS 2012.

Controversy[link]

Eko Fresh[link]

In 2002 Eko Fresh and Savas began to dispute. Eko Fresh left the label and continued his career without his colleague. He released "Die Abrechnung", a song which spoke out against Kool Savas and other German rappers. Savas replied with "Das Urteil", which also became a hit song.

Discography[link]

• 2002: Der beste Tag meines Lebens
• 2004: Die besten Tage sind gezählt
• 2007: Tot oder Lebendig
• 2011: Aura

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kool Savas

• YouTube
• Official Homepage'
• Official Facebook Page'

Raj Shrikant Thackeray (Marathi: राज श्रीकांत ठाकरे) (born 14 June 1968) is the founder and president of the right-wing^{[citation needed]} Marathi ethnocentric regional political party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena ("Maharashtra Reformation Army") in the state of Maharashtra, India. His official name is Swararaj which means the king of musical notes.^[1] He is the nephew of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, and a cousin of the current Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray.^[2]

Early life[link]

Raj was born on 14 June 1968 in a Marathi Kayastha (CKP) family to Shrikant Thackeray (younger brother of Bal Thackeray) and Kunda Thackeray (younger sister of Bal Thackeray's wife Meena Thackeray). Raj’s father Shrikant Thackeray was a musician, cartoonist and was also well versed in Urdu. He studied in Balmohan Vidyamandir, Mumbai and graduated from the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art, Mumbai. As a child he is said to have learnt the tabla, the guitar and the violin. He also loved drawing which later turned into a passion for drawing cartoons.

Political career[link]

Raj started his political career with his Uncle Bal Thackeray. Bal Thackeray has been a huge influence on Raj’s life. Raj has been said to have modeled himself after him. In 1997, he started the Shiv Udyog Sena a youth wing for the Shiv Sena. With this he tried to strengthen his youth leader image. "He raised funds for the employment agency with, among other sources, concerts by Michael Jackson and Lata Mangeshkar — and thus, simultaneously, propagated the new brand of the Sena's popular culture and its implications for a nascent generational change within the organization". But his association with the Sena ended in 2006. In January 2006 he resigned from the Sena alleging that it was being "run by petty clerks" because of which it had "fallen from its former glory". There has been quite a lot of speculation over the real reason why he left the party. The popular rumor being that he was being "sidelined" by Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav. In the same year Raj announced his intention to start his own political party. Although separated from his mentor, Raj has always maintained that he does not want to have hostilities with his uncle who "was, is and always will be (his) mentor".

Political Views[link]

Marathi Identity[link]

Raj Thackeray and his party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, state that Maharashtra State, Marathi language and Marathi Manoos are subverted by the influence of non-Marathi politicians within and outside the State, and that these politicians should be opposed in order to attain prosperity for Maharashtra and Marathi people.^[3]

Opposition to Immigrants[link]

Since the creation of his party, Raj Thackeray has opposed immigration into Maharashtra from North India. According to Raj Thackeray, he is against immigrants specifically from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and not from North India or elsewhere, in general. According to him, bad governance, corruption, high crime rates and criminal, politicians in these two states for decades, has degraded the socio-economic conditions there, causing exodus of people from these states to other states, like Maharashtra. This causes unemployment and increased crime rates in Maharashtra and other states which receive these immigrants. Also, due to rising number of immigrants, the politician from these two states have gained power in Maharashtra. He, however has made it clear that he is not against Hindi.^[4]

Violence in Agitations[link]

Raj Thackery and his party MNS have been criticized^{[citation needed]} for use of violence during their agitations, especially directed towards immigrants from UP and Bihar. He is facing several charges for instigating violence in various courts.^{[citation needed]} On use of violence, Thackeray says that violence is a part of all agitations in Indian politics, and there are several cases of much more violence carried out by other parties and organisations. According to him, the incidents of violence involving members of his party have been unduly highlighted by North Indian politicians and journalists.^[4]

Supporter of Narendra Modi's Governance[link]

Thackeray is an admirer of Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi for his governance, and the development of Gujarat during his tenure. In August 2011, Raj Thackeray visited Gujarat on a 9-day trip as 'state guest' to study the development in Gujarat. He also advised politicians in Maharashtra, irrespective of party, to take lessons from Modi and Gujarat.^[5] He has also expressed support for Modi for the post Prime Minister of India for the 2014 Lok Sabha (general) election.^[5]

Agitations[link]

Marathi signboards for shops[link]

In July 2008, Raj issued a public warning that Mumbai shops needed to have Marathi signboards in addition to the existing English signboards. He warned that after one month, MNS workers would start blackening non-Marathi signboards.^{[citation needed]} While there had been a law to this effect passed earlier by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, it had not been enforced.^{[citation needed]}

Raj had also insisted that the Marathi signboards had to be at least as big as the English signboards. A number of big shopowners, notably Viren Shah (Roopam chain) went to court against this move. The high-court provided them relief, passing a judgement that the Marathi signboards did not have to be as big as English signboards.^[6]

In September 2008, MNS workers resorted to blackening signboards, to enforce the demand, after which most shop owners complied. Six MNS workers were arrested but later released on bail. The Congress government was dilatory in filing chargesheets against them, following which the Maharashtra high-court passed strictures against the government. When the government prosecutor submitted in December that the chargesheets had not been filed as investigation was ongoing, the judge remarked sarcastically whether this was a murder case to warrant such long investigations, three months after the arrest of the MNS workers, but Raj was attempting to enforce a rule previously on the books.^[7]

Agitation against Jet Airways layoffs[link]

In October 2008, on the eve of the major Indian festival Diwali, Jet Airways laid off 800 temporary workers and announced layoffs of an additional 1100 workers. The laid-off workers included Marathi as well as North-Indians. These workers met Raj Thackeray and asked him to intervene. Following this, Raj Thackeray declared that most of these workers had paid security deposits to the company, and he would meet Jet management to plead their case. Unless Jet Airways cancelled the layoffs, his party would not allow any Jet Airways plane to take off from any airport in Maharashtra.^[8]

Within 12 hours of Raj Thackeray's declaration, Jet chairman Naresh Goyal reversed the layoffs and reinstated the sacked employees. He claimed that he did it on his own and that there was no political pressure on him. Leftist Unions, Shivsena & Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel later tried to take credit for the decision. On announcement of the layoffs, Praful Patel had claimed that he had no jurisdiction over the layoffs issue.^[9] Sacked Jet employees on the other hand stated that they were warned by Jet management on reinstatement, not to meet Raj Thackeray to thank him.^[10]

Demand for Telecom customer service in Marathi[link]

Telecom companies in Maharashtra had been providing customer service in English & Hindi only. Raj demanded that all telecom companies operating in Maharashtra start providing the service in Marathi also and set a deadline of 27 February 2010, after which his party MNS would launch an agitation. Following this demand, all telecom companies complied, introducing Marathi as an additional option in their customer service.^[11]

Maharashtra-Karnataka Border Issue[link]

In Dec 2011, Raj Thackeray meeting a group from MES (Maharshtra Ekikaran Samiti) advised them that they should revisit their stand of merging Belgaum with Maharashtra in the interest of marathi speaking people of belgaum. In a major departure from the stance previously taken by traditional right wing groups of Maharashtra, Raj Thackeray argued that a practical approach rather than an emotional one was the need of the hour. However, he said that if the supreme court itself gives a decision in favor of Belgaum's merger he would welcome it, although the local situation in Belgaum should not be vitiated for the sake of it. He asked the MES leaders to first identify the real issue as to whether marathis in belgaum are being targeted for espousing the cause of marathi language or because they were supporting the merger of Belgaum with Maharashtra. Lamenting that strikes and bandhs only add to the misery of the Marathi-speaking community in Belgaum, Thackeray said: "If the Karnataka government is ready to respect the Marathi people, their culture and language, then there is nothing wrong in Belgaum being there."^[12] His comments were strongly criticized by his cousin Uddhav Thackeray as a cruel joke on the marathi manoos.^[13]

Controversies[link]

2008 violence against UP & Biharis[link]

At a rally in Shivaji Park, Raj warned that if the dadagiri (intimidating dominance) of these people in Mumbai and Maharashtra continued, he would be compelled to make them leave the metropolis.^[14] Raj was arrested along with a Samajwadi Party leader, Abu Azmi, for their involvement in the fracas. He was released on paying a penalty of 15,000 (US$299.25).

Acquittal in Kini murder case[link]

In July 1996, Ramesh Kini was found dead in a cinema in Pune. Kini was a tenant in a ramshackle tenement in central Mumbai, whose landlord, Laxmikant Shah, was trying to evict him. Shah also happened to be a close childhood friend of Raj Thackeray. A CBI enquiry was later issued for the case, but the CBI dismissed the case as one of suicide.^[15]

Kohinoor mill controversy[link]

Shiv Sena opposed sale of mill land, but Raj Thackeray bid for and won mill land in prime Mumbai real estate.^[16] On 21 July 2005, Raj and Unmesh Joshi, son of Shiv Sena Leader Manohar Joshi purchased a five acre plot of land, Kohinoor Mill No. 3, located across the road from the Shiv Sena party headquarters in Dadar, Mumbai for 421 crore (US$83.99 million). The NCP leader from Mumbai, Sachin Ahir, objected to the sale of the Kohinoor Mill land, saying that there were forty bids, yet only three were short-listed. He demanded a re-bid as there was a lack of transparency in the move.^[17]

Reaction to Jaya Bachchan's controversial statement[link]

The words of Jaya Bachchan, veteran actor and sitting Rajya Sabha MP of Samajwadi Party (with whom Raj's MNS has crossed swords a number of times), during the Music launch of the Hindi film Drona, were deemed hurtful by Raj Thackeray.

Jaya's words 'Hum UP (Uttar Pradesh) ke log hain, isliye Hindi mein baat karenge, Maharashtra ke log Maaf Kijiye' (We are from UP region, so we will speak in Hindi. People of Maharashtra, please excuse) in response to the film's Director, Goldie Behl, making his introductory speech in English and subsequently encouraging the actress Priyanka Chopra to speak in Hindi.^[18]

Raj commented that Jaya had no business alluding to all the people of Maharashtra in that statement. He threatened to ban all Bachchan films unless Jaya apologised in a public forum for hurting Maharashtrians. MNS workers began to attack theatres screening The Last Lear starring Jaya Bachchan's husband, Amitabh Bachchan. Shivsena MP Sanjay Raut also criticized Jaya's statement saying: "After making all your success & fortune in Mumbai, if you feel like saying that, We are From UP, its very unfortunate." It was only after Amitabh tendered an apology that the screening resumed.^[19]

Following Raj's threat, Mumbai police acted against Raj, issuing a gag order preventing him from speaking to the media.^[20]

Remarks on Chhath Puja and Migrants[link]

Raj reproached North Indian leaders for politicizing Chhath Puja, a festival popular in Bihar, calling it a "drama" and a "show of numerical strength". He stated that the Chhath Puja was a political gimmick by some parties to attract the north Indian vote. He questioned the motives by citing that the puja is performed on the banks of a river, not the sea as it was being performed.^[21] He demanded that they only celebrate Maharashtra day and not UP day in Maharashtra. A petition was filed in the Patna civil court on 8 February against him for his remarks.^[22] His statements drew flak from political leaders across the board, especially those from the North Indian states. The then Indian Railways minister and former chief minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, vowed that he would come to Mumbai and perform Chhath Puja in front of Raj's house, which he failed to perform. He also ridiculed Raj saying, "He [Raj] is a child in politics".^[21] The Navnirman Sena leader accused migrants of swamping Maharashtra, India's most industrialised state, in search of jobs.^[23]

The MNS chief also accused migrants of disrespecting the local culture. On 9 February, expressing his stance on new migrants settling in Mumbai, Raj said, "New immigrants to the city should be denied entry into the city, while those already staying here should show respect to the Marathi 'manoos' and his culture".^[24]

Mumbai-Bombay Controversy: Wake Up Sid[link]

On 2 October 2009, MNS workers disrupted the screening of the film Wake Up Sid on its release in a few Pune and Mumbai theatres, after Raj objected to references in the movie to "Bombay" rather than "Mumbai". The city of Mumbai was referred to as "Bombay" in many scenes^[25] and in some songs (lyrics by Javed Akhtar). The film's producer, Karan Johar, visited Raj's residence to apologise, and agreed to all of Raj's terms, including an apology on each of the 700 frames in the film.^[26]

Personal life[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2012)

Raj is married to Sharmila, daughter of famous Marathi theater/films actor, producer-director Mohan Wagh. They have one son named Amit Thackeray and one daughter Urvashi Thackeray.

Like his father and uncle Raj is a painter and cartoonist. He had also expressed his desire to work for Walt Disney Studios. Raj Thackeray said when asked what he would have done had he not joined politics? "In my college days, I wanted to work with Walt Disney Studios. I drew cartoons even before my foray in politics. Film making is also a passion. I would have been doing either of these things."

External links[link]

• Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Official Website
• Outlook India Back Issues
• Raj Thackerey's response in The Indian Express to Sudheendra Kulkarni's criticism
• New legal strategy to tame Raj

References[link]