Mumbai, March 5
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has embarked on a collision course with the members of parliament from North India who have raised the issue of violence against North Indians in the house.
With the MPs demanding on the floor of Parliament that North Indian migrants living in Mumbai and other cities of Maharashtra be given adequate protection, Thackeray added more fuel to the fire by saying ‘Biharis are unwanted everywhere in India’.
In a hard-hitting editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ published today, Bal Thackeray spewed venom on the migrants from Bihar. “They are not wanted in South India, Assam, Punjab and Chandigarh. The Biharis have antagonised local populations wherever they have settled,” Thackeray wrote. The aging leader also hit out at the MPs from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for demanding more security for North Indian migrants in Maharashtra. “The MPs from UP and Bihar are abusing Marathi people in Parliament and are insulting the locals of Mumbai and Maharashtra who have provided refuge to North Indians for years,” Thackeray wrote.
He further warned that the people of Maharashtra would not take it lightly if North Indian MPs accused them of being anti-national. Rather ominously, Thackeray warned that such statements by North Indian MPs would only endanger the migrants presently living in Mumbai and other cities. “The Bihar MPs say the brains of Mumbaikars’ are rotten....their stand will have serious repercussion on their people in Mumbai,” Thackeray wrote.
Thackeray said politicians from UP and Bihar had bankrupted the exchequer by swindling money via different scams. With no development, the people of these states were forced to look at other places for employment.
Thackeray’s editorial had an immediate impact with MPs demanding action against Bal Thackeray as well has his rebellious nephew Raj, who had started the campaign against North Indian migrants. Reports from Delhi say, MPs are pushing for a breach of privilege motion against Bal Thackeray.
Sources here said Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had a meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi to brief her about the situation in Maharashtra. The state government may file fresh cases against Bal Thackeray and the publisher of Saamna for the remarks made by him. “We have sought immediate legal opinion on Thackeray’s editorial,” Deshmukh said.
Meanwhile, the second anniversary celebrations of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena seems to have come under a cloud with the state government refusing permission for public functions. Raj Thackeray, himself, has been banned from speaking in public. An application by the MNS to hold rallies in Mumbai and Pune have been put in the cold by the state government.
Today, the state government went one step further and issued a show cause notice to Raj Thackeray asking him why the gag order against him should not be extended further.
