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Thackerays must be isolated

It is really unfortunate and shocking that the Shiv Sena and the MNS are getting emboldened day by day (editorial, “Mumbai is for Indians: Sena ends up annoying its allies too”, Feb 3). They are thriving by issuing anti-national inflammatory speeches. The answer to the problem is not far to seek. The Maharashtra government, headed by the Congress and the NCP, is causing damage to the integration of the country with its soft stance.

Just as the RSS and the BJP have decided to take the Sena goons head on, Mr Rahul Gandhi and Mr P Chidambaram have also taken a tough stand against the rogues of Mumbai.

The need of the hour is to corner and isolate Udhav and Raj Thackeray. This will be possible only if all political parties join hands unmindful of the politics of vote bank. No part of India can be closed to the people of other regions.

LAJPAT RAI GARG, Panchkula

The editorial rightly pointed out the need to isolate groups and parties indulging in low-level politics based on regionalism and language. It aptly cautioned the people of this country about the dangers involved in such type of the politics.

The processes of liberalisation and globalisation has provided opportunities to our young people to rise above regional and language barriers and move to different parts of India and other countries and strive for better opportunities to improve the quality of their lives. In the cities US one can see Indians from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states living as proud Indians. It is shameful that in India, that too in Mumbai, Indians are being told by parties like the MNS and the Shiv Sena that Mumbai is not for Indians but for Marathis.

JAGDISH MITTER GANDHI, Gurgaon

III

The unpatriotic utterances of Udhay Thackeray and Raj Thackeray are painful. It seems that these myopic leaders do not understand the ramifications of their actions.

If every state were to toe their line of thinking, then India will soon disintegrate. What is intriguing is the stony silence of all parties and particularly of the intelligentsia. Mumbai or any part of India is not a private property of Thackerays. It belongs to all Indians. If we fail to raise our voice at this stage, the consequences will be devastating.

Capt VINOD CHAUDHRI, Chandigarh

The editorial has rightly stressed that the goons of the Shiv Sena and the MNS could be totally cornered if all the political parties were to stop playing double games. The Shiv Sena is undermining the unity and integrity of the country, achieved after great sacrifices of our national leaders. It is all the more unfortunate that the national political parties had maintained a deafening silence on the nefarious acts of the Shiv Sena in the past.

Even the Maharashtra government’s stand on the chauvinistic “Mumbai for Marathis” has been wavering and dubious. It is high time that all the right thinking people of the country denounce Thackerays and save the country from balkanisation and disintegration.

RM RAMAUL, Paonta Sahib

Don’t target Shah Rukh
Shiv Sena’s outburst against Shah Rukh Khan because of his statement that Pakistani top cricketers should have been treated by the IPL authorities objectively and on merit, are indeed painful and distressing.
Do the Shivsainiks, who have had no role in India’s freedom struggle, know that Shah Rukh is a scion of a family of illustrious freedom fighters? His father, the late Taj Mohammed Mir migrated to India in the wake of Partition.
He was a popular public speaker and had been arrested during the Quit India movement and was with me in Peshawar jail. Shah Rukh’s uncle the late Ghulam Mohammed Gama, who had spent four years in jail during freedom struggle, had spent eight years in Pakistan’s jails simply because he had been a secular Muslim who continued to oppose, even after the creation of Pakistan, the divisive and communal politics of the Muslim League. Finally, it is commendable that Shah Rukh instead of flaunting the heroic contributions of his family to the freedom struggle, has rarely publicly mentioned this important fact.
TRILOCHAN SINGH, New Delhi