Mahatma Gandhi (right)

Swaraj can mean generally self-governance or "self-rule", and was used synonymously with "home-rule" by Gandhi^[1] (Hindi: swa- "self", raj "rule") but the word usually refers to Gandhi's concept for Indian independence from foreign domination.^[2] Swaraj lays stress on governance not by a hierarchical government, but self governance through individuals and community building. The focus is on political decentralization.^[3] Since this is against the political and social systems followed by Britain, Gandhi's concept of Swaraj laid stress on India discarding British political, economic, bureaucratic, legal, military, and educational institutions.^[4]

Although Gandhi's aim of totally implementing the concepts of Swaraj in India was not achieved, the voluntary work organizations which he founded for this purpose did serve as precursors and role models for peoples movements, voluntary organisations and some of the non-governmental organisations that were subsequently launched in various parts of India.^[5] The Bhoodan movement which presaged land reform legislation activity throughout India, ultimately leading to India discarding the Zamindari system, was also inspired by the ideas of Swaraj.

Key concepts[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Swaraj

Swaraj warrants a stateless society; according to Gandhi, the overall impact of the state on the people is harmful. He called the state a "soulless machine" which, ultimately, does the greatest harm to mankind.^[6] The raison d'etre of the state is that it is an instrument of serving the people. But Gandhi feared that in the name of moulding the state into a suitable instrument of serving people, the state would abrogate the rights of the citizens and arrogate to itself the role of grand protector and demand abject acquiescence from them. This would create a paradoxical situation where the citizens would be alienated from the state and at the same time enslaved to it which according to Gandhi was demoralising and dangerous. If Gandhi's close acquaintance with the working of the state apparatus in South Africa and in India strengthened his suspicion of a centralized, monolithic state, his intimate association with the Congress and its leaders confirmed his fears about the corrupting influence of political power and his skepticism about the efficacy of the party systems of power politics (due to which he resigned from the Congress on more than one occasion only to be persuaded back each time) and his study of the British parliamentary systems convinced him that representative democracy was incapable of meting out justice to people.^[7] So he thought it necessary to evolve a mechanism to achieve the twin objectives of empowering the people and 'empowering' the state. It was for this that he developed the two pronged strategy of resistance (to the state) and reconstruction (through voluntary and participatory social action).

Although the word Swaraj means self-rule, Gandhi gave it the content of an integral revolution that encompasses all spheres of life. "At the individual level Swaraj is vitally connected with the capacity for dispassionate self-assessment, ceaseless self-purification and growing self-reliance".^[8] Politically swaraj is self-government and not good government (for Gandhi, good government is no substitute for self government) and it means a continuous effort to be independent of government control, whether it is foreign government or whether it is national. In other words, it is sovereignty of the people based on pure moral authority. Economically, Swaraj means full economic freedom for the toiling millions. And in its fullest sense, Swaraj is much more than freedom from all restraints, it is self-rule, self-restraint and could be equated with moksha or salvation.^[9]

Adopting Swaraj means implementing a system whereby the state machinery is virtually nil, and the real power directly resides in the hands of people. Gandhi said, "Power resides in the people, they can use it at any time."^[10] This philosophy rests inside an individual who has to learn to be master of his own self and spreads upwards to the level of his community which must be dependent only on itself. Gandhi said, "In such a state (where swaraj is achieved) everyone is his own ruler. He rules himself in such a manner that he is never a hindrance to his neighbour";^[11] and also "It is Swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves."^[12]

Gandhi explained his vision in 1946:

"Independence begins at the bottom... A society must be built in which every village has to be self sustained and capable of managing its own affairs... It will be trained and prepared to perish in the attempt to defend itself against any onslaught from without... This does not exclude dependence on and willing help from neighbours or from the world. It will be a free and voluntary play of mutual forces... In this structure composed of innumerable villages, there will be ever widening, never ascending circles. Growth will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose center will be the individual. Therefore the outermost circumference will not wield power to crush the inner circle but will give strength to all within and derive its own strength from it."^[13]

Gandhi was undaunted by the task of implementing such a utopian vision in India. He believed that by transforming enough individuals and communities society at large would change. He said, "It may be taunted with the retort that this is all Utopian and, therefore not worth a single thought... Let India live for the true picture, though never realizable in its completeness. We must have a proper picture of what we want before we can have something approaching it."^[14]

After Gandhi[link]

After Gandhi's assassination Vinoba Bhave formed the Sarva Seva Sangh at the national level and Sarvodya Mandals at the regional level to the carry on integrated village service - with the end purpose of achieving the goal of Swaraj. Two major nonviolent movements for socio-economic and political revolution in India: the Bhoodan movement led by Vinoba Bhave and the Total Revolution movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan were actually held under the aegis of the ideas of Swaraj. These movements had some success, but due to the socialist tendencies of Nehruvian India were not able to unleash the kind of revolution that was aimed at.

Gandhi's model of Swaraj was almost entirely discarded by the Indian government. He had wanted a system of a classless, stateless direct democracy.^[15] In what is known as his Last Will and Testament Gandhi suggested the disbanding of the Congress as a political forum. He said, "Its task is done. The next task is to move into villages and revitalize life there to build a new socio-economic structure from the bottom upwards."^[16] He wanted the Congress party to change into a constructive work organisation - Lok Sewak Sangh was the name he proposed - to conscientise and mobilise the people to work and struggle for Swaraj. However none of these objectives were achieved when India became independent. India, although a federation, got a strong central government. Representative democracy, rather than direct democracy was adopted. The Congress Party was not disbanded. Rather it went on to become one of the frontrunners in running the government of India.

Additionally, modern India has kept in place many aspects of British (and Western) influence, including widespread use of the English language, Common-law, industrialization, liberal democracy, military organisation, and the bureaucracy.

References[link]

External links[link]

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Sushma Swaraj
Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha)
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 December 2009
Preceded by	Lal Krishna Advani
Constituency	Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh)
Minister of Information and Broadcasting
In office 30 September 2000 – 29 January 2003
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Chief Minister of Delhi
In office 13 October 1998 – 3 December 1998
Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Telecommunications
In office 19 March 1998 – 12 October 1998
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Minister of Information and Broadcasting
In office 16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Haryana State Minister of Education, Food and Civil Supplies
In office 1987–1990
Haryana State Minister of Labour and Employment
In office 1977–1979
Personal details
Born	(1952-02-14) 14 February 1952 (age 60) Palwal, Haryana
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s)	Swaraj Kaushal
Residence	New Delhi
Alma mater	Punjab University, Chandigarh
Profession	Lawyer
Military service
Awards	Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 2004 and 2010

Sushma Swaraj (Hindi: सुष्मा स्वराज pronunciation (help·info)) (born 14 February 1952) is an Indian politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)and Member of Parliament. She is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha. She is a former union cabinet minister of India and a former Chief Minister of Delhi. Also she served as the Chairperson of the BJP's 19 member campaign committee for the 2009 General Elections. She was the first female Chief Minister of Delhi.

Early life[link]

She was born in Palwal, Haryana. She was educated at Sanatan Dharma College, Ambala Cantonment and earned a B.A. degree. She studied LL.B. from the Law Department of Punjab University, Chandigarh. She is an advocate by profession.^[1]

She has been associated with many social and cultural bodies in various capacities. She was President of the Sahitya Sammelan, Haryana for four years.

Political career[link]

Sushma Swaraj began her political career as a student leader in the 1970s, organizing protests against Indira Gandhi's government. She was a member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly from 1977–82 and then from 1987–90. As a Janata Party MLA in Devi Lal's government, she was the Cabinet Minister of Labour and Employment (1977–1979). She joined the BJP in 1980. Under a combined Lok Dal-BJP government led by Devi Lal, she was the Cabinet Minister of Education, Food and Civil Supplies (1987–1990). She was judged Best Speaker of Haryana State Assembly for three consecutive years.

In 1980, 1984, and 1989, she unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Karnal in Haryana. All three times, she was defeated by the Congress Party's Chiranji Lal Sharma.

She was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1990. In 1996, she was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha from South Delhi. She was Union Cabinet Minister of Information and Broadcasting in 1996, during the 13-day Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government.

She was re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha for a 2nd term in 1998. Under the second Vajpayee government, she retained the Information and Broadcasting ministry and had additional charge of the Ministry of Telecommunications from 19 March to 12 October 1998.

She left the Union Cabinet from October – December 1998 to serve as the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi. The BJP lost the assembly elections, and she returned to national politics.

In 1999, she took on a high profile as she contested against the Congress party's President, Sonia Gandhi, from the Bellary constituency in Karnatka, which had returned Congress winners since India's independence. The fervent, high-pitched campaign came to an end with the expected loss of Sushma.

She returned to Parliament in April 2000 as a Rajya Sabha member from Uttarakhand.^[2] She was re-inducted into the cabinet as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, which she held from September 2000 until January 2003. At that time, she was made the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, and also held the post of Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. She held these posts from January 2003 until May 2004, when the National Democratic Alliance government lost elections.

In a heavily publicized and emotionally charged episode following the elections, Sushma Swaraj threatened to shave her head, don a white saree and eat groundnuts (symbolically mourning) if Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born Congress leader, became Prime Minister of India.

She was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2006 from Madhya Pradesh. She served as the deputy leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha. Speculation ran high that Sushma Swaraj was one of the top contenders to be President of the BJP, following Advani's resignation from that role in late 2005. Rajnath Singh ultimately was elected to that post.

She won the 2009 election to the 15th Lok Sabha from the Vidisha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, on a BJP candidacy, by a highest margin of 4.01 lakh votes. This is her 10th election.

She has been awarded by Outstanding Parliamentarian Award twice.

Leader of the opposition[link]

Sushma Swaraj appointed as leader of the opposition party and replaced Lal Krishna Advani in December 2009 in the 15th Lok Sabha,^[3]

Personal life[link]

She married Swaraj Kaushal Madahar on 13 July 1975 and has a daughter.

Positions held[link]

• 1977–82 and 1987–90 Member, Haryana Legislative Assembly.^[1]
• 1977–79 Cabinet Minister, Labour and Employment, Government of Haryana.^[1]
• 1987–90 Cabinet Minister, Education, Food and Civil Supplies, Government of Haryana.^[1]
• April 1990 Elected to Rajya Sabha
• 1996 Member, Eleventh Lok Sabha
• 16 May-1 June 1996 Union Cabinet Minister, Information and Broadcasting.^[1]
• 1998 Member, Twelfth Lok Sabha (2nd term)
• 19 March-12 Oct.1998 Union Cabinet Minister, Information and Broadcasting and Telecommunications (Additional charge)
• 13 Oct.-3 Dec. 1998 Chief Minister, Delhi
• April 2000 Elected to Rajya Sabha (2nd term)^[4]
• 30 Sept. 2000–29 Jan. 2003 Minister of Information and Broadcasting
• 29 Jan. 2003 – 22 May 2004 Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
• April 2006 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (3rd term)^[5]
• 16 May 2009 Elected to the 15th Lok Sabha.^[1]
• 3 June 2009 Elected as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.^[1]
• 18 Dec 2009 Sushma Swaraj appointed as leader of the opposition party and replaced Lal Krishna Advani in December 2009.

External links[link]

• Official website of BJP

References[link]

Feroze Varun Gandhi (born 13 March 1980, Delhi, India) is an Indian politician, he is a member of Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament of India, representing the Pilibhit constituency. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party National Executive and the youngest National Secretary in the history of the party.^[1][2]

Formative years and education[link]

Varun Gandhi was born in Delhi on 13 March 1980 to Sanjay Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi, he is the grandson of the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi and the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. His father died in a plane crash when he was three months old. His grandmother was assassinated when Varun was four-years-old. Indira Gandhi is said to have been very fond of Varun and was greatly distressed when his mother left the household.^[3]

He attended Rishi Valley School and completed his A levels from the British School, New Delhi, where he was elected secretary of the student council. According to a press statement released by Sumantra Bose, Professor of International and Comparative Politics at London School of Economics, Varun completed his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics via the University of London External System in the year 2002.^[4] He also completed his Master of Science in Public Policy from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in 2004 also through correspondence.

Varun is married to Yamini Roy, daughter of late diplomat Sunil Roy Chowdhury and film enthusiast Dr. Aruna Vasudev.^[5][6]

Career[link]

The nature of his profession and ideological affiliations, coupled with the inexperience of his age, have invited criticisms about him and his ways.^{[clarification needed][7]} In an interview to Stephen Sackur in BBC's HARDtalk in October 2005, Gandhi answered questions about the reasons behind his political affiliation and defended his father as someone who had helped revive the industrialisation of India by starting Maruti Udyog and whose strategy helped the Congress party's comeback after the first ever non-Congress Janata Dal government following an electoral routing for the Indira Gandhi-government after Emergency, among many other things.^[8]

In the 2009 general election, the BJP decided to field Varun Gandhi as its candidate from the Pilibhit constituency instead of his mother Menaka Gandhi.^[9] He won the seat by receiving 419,539 votes and defeated his nearest contending candidate, V.M. Singh, by a margin of 281,501 votes.^{[10][11][12][13][14]} The victory was the strongest of any of the four Gandhi family candidates in the election: his mother Maneka Gandhi, aunt Sonia Gandhi and first cousin Rahul Gandhi. The security deposits of all other candidates, including those of V.M. Singh of the Indian National Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Ganga Charan Rajput were forfeited.^[15] During election campaign, a controversial speech by him resulted in his judicial custody prior to the election.^[16] On 6 March 2011 he got married to Yamini Rai Choudhuri at Varanaasi.

Jan Lokpal Bill[link]

In August 2011, Varun Gandhi strongly pitched for the Jan Lokpal Bill. Gandhi offered his official residence to Hazare to hold his fast, after Hazare was denied permission by the government.^[17] When Hazare was jailed, Gandhi offered to table the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.^[18] On August 24, he went to Ramlila Maidan as a common man to support the cause of Anna Hazare, becoming the first politician to openly support the anti-corruption cause.^[19]

Controversies[link]

Mr Gandhi has repudiated the movement which gave his dynasty its place in India's halls of power. During one campaign rally, he taunted Muslims over their tradition of circumcision, called a Muslim rival "Osama bin Laden" and swore that he would "cut off the hand" of any follower of Islam who dared to threaten a Hindu.."^[20]

See also[link]

• Political families

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Bioprofile at Parliament of India of Varun Gandhi
• Official website of Varun Gandhi
• Profile at Govt. of India website

Bal Thackeray
Founder and chief of the Shiv Sena
Personal details
Born	(1926-01-23) 23 January 1926 (age 86)[1] Mumbai, Pune, Maharashtra[2]
Political party	Shiv Sena
Spouse(s)	Mina Thackeray
Children	Bindumadhav Thackeray Jaidev Thackeray Uddhav Thackeray
Residence	Mumbai, India
As of May 4, 2008

Bal Keshav Thackeray^[1] ([ʈʰakəɾe]; born 23 January 1926^[1]), popularly known as Hinduhriday Samraat Balasaheb Thackeray, is an Indian politician, founder and chief of the Shiv Sena, a right-wing Hindu nationalist, and Marathi ethnocentric party active mainly in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

Born in Pune, Thackeray began his professional career as a cartoonist with the English language daily the The Free Press Journal in Mumbai, but left it in 1960 to form his own political weekly Marmik. His political philosophy was largely shaped by his father Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, a leading figure in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement (United Maharashtra movement), which advocated the creation of a separate linguistic state of Maharashtra. Through Marmik, he campaigned against the growing influence of Gujaratis, Marwaris, and southern Indians in Mumbai.^[1] In 1966, Thackeray formed the Shiv Sena party to advocate more strongly the place of Maharashtrians in Mumbai's political and professional landscape. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Thackeray built the party by forming temporary alliances with nearly all of Maharashtra's political parties.^[3]

A controversial figure, Thackeray has attracted significant attention by making statements expressing admiration for Hitler as an artist and demagogue, while condemning the Holocaust, inciting violence against Muslims, expressing support for the LTTE, and taking strong stances on the aspects of popular culture, including fervent opposition to the celebration of Valentine's Day.^[3]

Early life and career[link]

He was born to Keshav Sitaram Thackeray (also known as Prabodhankar Thackeray because of his articles in his fortnightly magazine named Prabodhan or 'Enlightenment') in a lower-middle class, Marathi family. Keshav Thackeray was a progressive social activist and writer who was against caste biases and played a key role in the Samyukta Maharashtra Chalwal (literally, United Maharashtra Movement) in the 1950s to form the Marathi-speaking state of Maharashtra with Mumbai as its capital. Shiv sainiks called them 'Hindu Hriday Samrat' with love (Emperor of Hindu's heart)

Bal Thackeray started his career as a cartoonist in the Free Press Journal in Mumbai.^[4] His cartoons were also published in the Sunday edition of The Times of India. In 1960, he launched a cartoon weekly Marmik with his brother.^[4] He used it to campaign against the growing numbers of and influence of non-Marathi people in Mumbai targeting Gujaratis and South Indian labor workers.^[4]

He formed the Shiv Sena on 19 June 1966 with the intent of fighting for the rights of the natives of the state of Maharashtra (called Maharashtrians).^[5] The early objective of the Shiv Sena was to ensure job security for Maharashtrians competing against immigrants from southern India, Gujaratis and Marwaris.^[6]

In 1989, the Sena's newspaper Saamna was launched.^[7]

Politically, the Sena was anti-communist, and wrested control of major trade unions in Mumbai from the Communist Party of India and demanded protection money(extortion) from mainly Gujarati and marwari business leaders. It later allied itself with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the common issue of Hindu Nationalism which both parties believed in. The BJP-Shiv Sena combine won the 1995 Maharashtra State Assembly elections and came to power. During the tenure of the government from 1995 to 1999, Thackeray was nicknamed 'remote control' since he played a major role in government policies and decisions from behind the scenes.

On July 28, 1999 Bal Thackeray was banned from voting and contesting in any election for six years from December 11, 1999 till December 10, 2005 on the recommendations of the Election Commission.^[8] After the six-year voting ban on Bal Thackeray was lifted in 2005, he voted for the first time in the 2006 BMC elections.^[9]

Thackeray has claimed that the Shiv Sena has helped the Marathi manoos (the Marathi commoner) in Mumbai and also fought for the rights of Hindu people,Thackeray is a staunch Hindu and believes that Hindus must be organised to struggle against those who oppose their identity and religion.^[10] especially in the public sector.^[11] Opposition leftist parties allege that the Shiv Sena has done little to solve the problem of unemployment facing a large proportion of Maharashtrian youth during its tenure, in contradiction to its ideological foundation of 'sons of the soil.'^[12]

Controversies[link]

In 2002, Thackeray issued a call to form Hindu suicide squads to counter alleged Muslim violence:

If such suicide squads are formed only then can we take on perpetrators of mindless violence.^[13]

In reaction to Thackeray’s call, Maharashtra government registered a case against him for inciting enmity between different groups.^[14]

Asia Times further reported on Thackeray’s rhetoric:

'to take the Muslims head on'. 'Trouble-making Muslims should be wiped out from the country... kick out the four crore [40 million] Bangladeshi Muslims and then the country will be secure', the Shiv Sena leader said. Urging Hindus to start calling India 'Hindu rashtra' (Hindu nation), he maintained that only 'our religion Hinduism is to be honored here' and then 'we will look after other religions'.^[15]

At least two organizations founded and managed by the retired Indian Army officers namely Lt Col (retired) Jayant Rao Chitale and Lt Ge. P.N. Hoon (former commander-in-chief of the Western Command), answered Bal Thackeray’s call to set up the suicide squads in India. Lt Gen. Hoon claimed, Thackeray instructed him to set up the training camps through his writings and inflammatory articles.^[16]

Thackeray continues to publish inflammatory editorials in his party's newsletter, Saamana (Confrontation).

In February 2010, Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's film My Name Is Khan was opposed by Bal Thackeray and his party members for the former's remarks supporting cultural interaction between Indians and Pakistanis help build friendly relations between the two nations. This especially created a furore since it was unofficially decided by most people in India to not allow Pakistanis to work in India due to the ramprant terror attacks carried out on Indian Soil by militants sponsored by Pakistani elements.^[17][18]

Views on Muslims[link]

Thackeray's views have typically been highly anti-Muslim. He is usually attacking them and occasionally sympathizing with them. He has declared that he is 'not against every Muslim, but only those who reside in this country but do not obey the laws of the land.... I consider such people traitors.'^[19] His party is viewed as being anti-Muslim, though Shiv Sainiks officially reject this accusation.^[20] When explaining his views on Hindutva, he has conflated Islam with violence and has called for Hindus to 'fight terrorism and fight Islam'.^[21] In an interview in Suketu Mehta's book 'Maximum City', he advocates the hanging of Indian Muslims who indulge in terrorism and mass expulsion of Bangladeshi Muslim migrants from India.

In the 1980s he had stated that:

'"They [Muslims] are spreading like a cancer and should be operated on like a cancer. The... country should be saved from the Muslims and the police should support them [Hindu Maha Sangh] in their struggle just like the police in Punjab were sympathetic to the Khalistanis.'^[22]

Balasaheb Thackeray criticized and challenged Indian Muslims through his party newspaper, Sāmna, around the time the 16th century Babri Masjid was demolished by members of the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in the northern town of Ayodhya, on December 6, 1992. Hindus believe that the Babri Mosque was built on the demolished ruins of a Hindu temple in the 16th century, and consider it to be the Ram Janmabhoomi (birthplace of the Hindu God Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, one of the Trimurti of the Hindu Pantheon). The communal riots that followed the demolition of the mosque led to nearly a 1000 deaths and many enquiry committees constituted by the government have accused Shiv Sena and Thackeray of being involved in and coordinating the riots. Thackeray however has shown no regret and feels that he is proud of what he and his partymen did back in those days because he feels that if it was not for the Shiv Sena then no one would have been able to control the Muslims after the demolition of the mosque.

However, in an interview in 1998, he claims to have tempered his stance on many issues that the Shiv Sena had with Muslims, particularly regarding the Babri Mosque or Ram Janmabhoomi issue,^[23] saying:

'We must look after the Muslims and treat them as part of us.'^[23]

Although 10 years later in 2008, he wrote:

'Islamic terrorism is growing and Hindu terrorism is the only way to counter it. We need suicide bomb squads to protect India and Hindus'.^[24]

He has since made more inflammatory statements regarding Muslims, and reiterated his desire for Hindus to unite across linguistic barriers and to see 'a Hindustan for Hindus' and to 'bring Islam in this country down to its knees'.^[25]

However, he has also expressed admiration for Muslims in Mumbai in the wake of the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists. In response to threats made by the leader of the Samajwadi Party that accusations of terrorism directed at Indian Muslims would bring about communal strife, Thackeray said that the unity of Mumbaikars (residents of Mumbai) in the wake of the terrorist attacks was 'a slap to fanatics of Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi' and that Thackeray 'salute(s) those Muslims who participated in the two minutes' silence on July 18 to mourn the blast victims'.^[26]

Views on people from Uttar Pradesh & Bihar[link]

On March 6, 2008, Bal Thackeray issued an editorial titled Ek Bihari, Sau Bimari^[27] (One Bihari, Hundred maladies)^[28] in Saamna, Shiv Sena's political mouthpiece, saying Biharis were 'an unwanted lot' in the Maharashtra. In what was termed as an apparent bid to recapture his party's Marathi sons of soil plank, which was being hijacked by the MNS leader Raj Thackeray, Bal Thackeray wrote about Biharis,^[29]

'They [Biharis] are not wanted in southern India, Assam and also Punjab and Chandigarh. The Biharis have antagonised local population wherever they had settled. The UP-Bihari MPs have shown their ingratitude towards Mumbai and Maharashtra with an anti-Marathi tirade in Parliament.'^[29]

He also denounced Bihari MPs, saying they were 'spitting in the same plate from which they ate' by criticising Mumbaikars and Maharashtrians. He also wrote, 'They are trying to add fuel to the fire that has been extinguished, by saying that Mumbaikars have rotten brains'. Additionally, he criticized a major holiday celebrated by people from Bihar, and eastern UP which happens six days after the Hindu New Year (Diwali) known as Chath Pooja. He said that it wasn't a real holiday.^[30] The outburst was apparently in response to MPs from Bihar who had disrupted the proceedings of the Lok Sabha in protest against the attacks on North Indians.^[30]

Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar, upset with the remarks, demanded that the Prime Minister and the Centre intervene in the matter immediately. The Saamna editorial prompted at least 16 Lok Sabha MPs from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, belonging to the RJD, JD (U), SP and the Congress, to give notice for breach of privilege proceedings against Bal Thackeray.^[30] After the matter was raised in the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said: 'If anybody has made any comment on our members’ functioning in the conduct of business in the House, not only do we treat that with the contempt that it deserves, but also any action that may be necessary will be taken according to procedure and well established norms. Nobody will be spared.'^[30]

On March 27, 2008 in protest against Balasaheb Thackeray's editorial, leaders of Shiv Sena in Delhi resigned citing its 'outrageous conduct' towards non-Marathis in Maharashtra and announced that they will form a separate party.^[31] Addressing a press conference Shiv Sena's North India chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal said the decision to leave the party was taken because of the 'partial attitude' of the party high command towards Maharashtrians. 'Shiv Sena is no different from Khalistan and Jammu and Kashmir militant groups which are trying to create a rift between people along regional lines. The main aim of these forces is to split our country. Like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the Shiv Sena too has demeaned North Indians and treated them inhumanely', he said.^[31][32]

Admiration of Hitler[link]

Thackeray^[33][34] has attracted controversy for his praise of Adolf Hitler.

Apparently he was quoted by Asiaweek as saying:

'I am a great admirer of Hitler, and I am not ashamed to say so! I do not say that I agree with all the methods he employed, but he was a wonderful organizer and orator, and I feel that he and I have several things in common.... What India really needs is a dictator who will rule benevolently, but with an iron hand.' [2]

In an interview with the Indian Express that was printed on January 29, 2007, Thackeray remarked,

Hitler did very cruel and ugly things. But he was an artist, I love him (for that). He had the power to carry the whole nation, the mob with him. You have to think what magic he had. He was a miracle.... The killing of Jews was wrong. But the good part about Hitler was that he was an artist. He was a daredevil. He had good qualities and bad. I may also have good qualities and bad ones. [3]

However, in the Star Talk talk show on channel Star Plus, he claimed himself not to admire Hitler.^[35]

Valentine's Day protests[link]

Boycotting shops and restaurants that allow young people to celebrate the Western holiday of Valentine's Day, interpreted as bestial, indecent and a-Bharatiya (un-Indian) by Thackeray, is one of his recent actions. These boycotts have often culminated in violence and the destruction of those shops.

On February 14, 2006, Balasaheb Thackeray condemned and apologized for the violent attacks of Shiv Sena members upon a private Valentine's Day celebration in Mumbai. 'It is said that women were beaten up in the Nallasopara incident. If that really happened, then it is a symbol of cowardice', Thackeray said, 'I have always instructed Shiv Sainiks that in any situation women should not be humiliated and harassed.'[4] Thackeray and the Shiv Sena remain opposed to Valentine's Day celebrations, although they may support an 'Indian alternative'.[5] However, in some cases, the Sena has been more tolerant during Valentine's Day celebrations and consider itself self appointed cultural pride ^[36]

Threats for the Final match of ICC World Cup Cricket Tournament[link]

Just before the "ICC World Cup Cricket Tournament" begins, Manohar Joshi, a senior leader of Shiv Sena, announced that, if the Pakistan team reaches the final (scheduled in Mumbai), Bal Thackeray will decide whether to allow them to play or not.^[37]

Cultural references[link]

Thackery is satirized in Salman Rushdie's novel The Moor's Last Sigh as 'Raman Fielding'. Suketu Mehta interviews Thackeray in his critically acclaimed, Pulitzer-nominated, non-fiction 2004 book Maximum City. The Sarkar (film) series is reportedly based on the Thackeray family and this idea was furthered in the second film in which the character of Sanjay Somji was expected to represent Raj Thackeray.

See also[link]

• Shiv Sena
• Hindutva
• Babri Mosque
• Saamna

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile by BBC dated July 19, 2000 referring to him as the "uncrowned monarch of Maharashtra"
• "Bal Thackeray: The Tiger who can't be tamed" - HindustanTimes.com article dated September 8, 2004
• Shiv Sena Informational piece circulated during the 2004 election year
• [6]