At around 4 PM, a group of 15-25 Shiv Sena activists armed with sticks and baseball bats barged into the office of IBN7 Hindi news channel and the IBN Lokmat Marathi TV channel and attacked journalists and employees. The female receptionist was slapped, and the Shiv Sena men went around looking for Nikhil Wagle, editor of IBN Lokmat. They threw a chair at him and slapped him. Reports also say that several women journalists were also attacked. LCD TVs and computers were trashed, chairs were toppled and glass panels were broken.

Many of the attackers escaped before the police arrived. However, it seems that the IBN journalists and technical staff counterattacked, and 7 of the attackers were caught and handed over to the police.

Photo: IBN Lokmat, IBN7 offices after Shiv Sena attack

Shiv Sena MP and editor of the Sena newspaper Saamna told reporters that it was a spontaneous attack, and as the people who attacked said they were Shiv Sainiks’ he was accepting it. He justified the attacks saying that the IBN7 and IBN Lokmat channels were consistently biased against the Shiv Sena. He also said that the attacks were justified, as the TV channels attacked Bal Thackery over his Saamna editorial criticising Sachin Tendulkar for saying that Mumbai was for everyone, and that he was an Indian first. “Media is not God–criticism of Balasaheb Thackeray will not be tolerated,” said Sanjay Raut. “If you target Sena, we will attack. Criticism of Sena is also criticism of Marathi Manoos.”

Photo: Shiv Sena chieftain Bal Thackeray

IBN Lokmat editor Nikhil Wagle said that he believes that Sanjay Raut organised the attacks. He said that this was not a spontaneous attack, and it was pre-planned.

One of the Shiv Sena’s grievances was that Nikhil Wagle has been insulting Bal Thackeray and Marathi sentiments by calling Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena chieftain, an “old man”. It did not look like Nikhil Wagle was in any mood to give in, though, even after the attacks. Speaking to the media, he repeated the phrase, saying “”Bal Thackeray has become old. Uddhav Thackeray has lost control over Sena and elements like Raut are flourishing in that party.” It should be noted that many Maharashtrians believe that Sanjay Raut has been penning editorials in Saamna which go under the name of Bal Thackeray, damaging Marathi sentiment. For example, post the Maharashtra Assembly election loss, Saamna editorial ostensibly written by Bal Thackeray said that he did not trust Maharashtrians anymore, and that they had stabbed him in the back by voting for Raj Thackeray’s MNS and thereby enabling Congress and NCP to win.

Nikhil Wagle has been aggressive in attacking the Sena brand of politics, and the Sena has never taken kindly to criticism, especially of its ageing leader. He said that the Shiv Sena has attacked Marathi sentiments by attacking a Marathi TV channel.

The Shiv Sena has often said criticism of Bal Thackeray would not be allowed. Bal Thackeray is ageing, and he is becoming something of a holy cow for the Shiv Sena. Raj Thackeray, who split from the Shiv Sena and set up his own party – the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) – too refused to comment on Bal Thackeray’s editorial which was critical of Sachin Tendulkar. In 2005, the Shiv Sena reacted violently every time there was any impolite mention or criticism of Shivaji. In 2009, it seems Bal Thackeray too cannot be criticised in Maharashtra.

CNN-IBN’s editor in chief, Rajdeep Sardesai, came on TV soon after the attacks and said that media has been increasingly facing such attacks, and blamed the Shiv Sena for the attack on IBN7 and IBN Lokmat. He said that the attacks marked a new low in Maharashtra politics.

Deputy commissioner of police RM Vhatkar said: “The arrested men have been booked for assault and rioting. We are on the lookout for the others.” He did not say whether the arrested men were indeed Shiv Sena men.

Criticism of the attacks came in immediately from Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who said that those arrested would be dealt with harshly. He said that the attacks on the IBN7 and IBN Lokmat TV channels showed the frustration of Shiv Sena after losing Assembly elections. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar said that strong action should be taken against those who attacked media.

CNN-IBN said that the attackers claimed they were agitated over misquoting Bal Thackeray. Thackeray’s criticism of Sachin Tendulkar did not go down well with most politicians and across India, and it is likely that the IBN channels were declaring that disgust, which obviously was not to Shiv Sena’s liking.

There were two other incidents of attacks by Shiv Sena – the IBN office in Pune was attacked, and an outdoor broadcast van of the channel was also not spared.

In 2008, senior journalist Kumar Ketkar’s house was also attacked by those claiming to be angered by his comments about a proposed Shivaji statue. He told the media political parties indulge in violence because they are certain of getting away.

Rahul Narvekar, the head of Shiv Sena’s legal cell refused to apologise for the attacks when asked, and said that his party would always defend Marathi pride.

Raj Thackeray's MNS' rise has unnerved the Shiv Sena, which has had the Marathi Manoos plank stolen from its creator.

There has been no reaction from Shiv Sena ally BJP, which has often been embarrassed by the violent behaviour and obvious justifications of such violence by Shiv Sena. As a national party which needs the Shiv Sena to have a foothold in Maharashtra, it has always found it convenient to close its eyes to Shiv Sena’s parochial and violent behaviour.

The Shiv Sena has always made it clear that they would not stay away from violence if they think their leaders or the pride of Maharashtra was offended by anyone. It is obviously not a defender of press freedom, and has never claimed to be so.

All this comes right on the heels of the recent slapping of SP MP Abu Asim Azmi by MNS legislators in the Maharashtra assembly, senior Thackeray’s editorial against Sachin Tendulkar, and yesterday’s editorial in the Saamna which proudly claimed that those who demolished the Babri Masjid were Shiv Sainiks, and exhorted all Hindus in India to unite against Muslims. Bal Thackeray has always been caught between Marathi chauvinism and Hindu chauvinism, never really able to make a choice while his nephew Raj has positioned himself as the champion of Maharashtrian rights above all – and so far, that seems to be working, making the Shiv Sena and Bal Thackeray ill-at-ease.

Bal Thackeray's editorial against Sachin Tendulkar angers many

Sachin Tendulkar had a told a news conference the other day, in connection with his completing 20 years in international cricket, that that “Mumbai belongs to all Indians.”  He added that, while he is a Maharashtrian and is “extremely proud of that,” “I am an Indian first.”

In an editorial in Saamna, the mouthpiece of Shiv Sena, Bal Thackeray advised Tendulkar to focus on his international cricket and said that he has “hurt the feelings of Marathi Manoos.”

Thackeray went on to say: “Sachin may not know what Marathi Manoos went through to get Mumbai. You were not even born then.”

In a tone of warning, the Shiv Sena supremo wrote in the editorial: “Sachin, please keep it in mind that we praise you for your fours and sixes on the field, but if you use your tongue as a bat to hit boundaries against Marathi Manoos, we will never tolerate it. Please don’t lose on the ground of politics whatever you have earned on the cricket pitch.”

Sanjay Raut, Spokesman of the Shiv Sena, has come out with a clarification that Bal Thackeray has “not criticised” Sachin Tendulkar.

According to Raut, Balasaheb only “commented in his capacity as an elder” and his remarks in the editorial in the Saamna were “an elderly advice to Sachin.”

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar is receiving support from various quarters and Bal Thackeray is being slammed for his outbursts again the cricketer.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has strongly defended Sachin, saying that the ‘Master Blaster’ had “spoken from his heart” and that “his statement will unite the country.”

The statement by Sachin, Ashok Chavan told reporters, was made in true sportsman spirit. Sachin may be a Maharashtrian, but he plays for the country.

Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, while criticising Bal Thackeray for his editorial, praised Sachin by saying that the “cricket icon” had raised further the “image and prestige of the country” by having said that Mumbai is for all Indians.

Shiv Sena’s ally in the NDA – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – too came out in support of Sachin Tendulkar saying that Sachin said only what a patriotic Indian would say.

What is interesting is that both Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and BJP are allies of Shiv Sena in the NDA. Sena’s regional chauvinism has oftne embarrassed its allies like the Sena – the common factor between both remain Hindu majoritarianism, and Marathi chauvinism is often awkward for the BJP.

Several Maharashtrians however believe that what appears in the Saamna editorials are often not Thackeray’s thoughts but someone else’s. Conspiracy theories about someone out to destory the Sena are often mentioned. Post Assembly elections for the Maharashtra State Assembly, Bal Thackeray’s editorial in the Saamna lambasted Maharashtrians for backstabbing the Sena, something which the Shiv Sena has been at pains to deny afterwards.

Raj Thackeray: Silent on Sachin

This is likely a case of over-reaction on Bal Thackeray’s part. Sachin Tendulkar’s statement was in response to a question from a reporter on a day when he has been giving press conferences and meeting the media since morning, and it is natural that he would not have thought about the political implications of a statement which could be interpreted as a snub to the Sena. Bal Thackeray too was not exactly wise about letting the statement go, instead of reacting to it angrily in Saamna – a reaction borne out of the fear that the Sena has to be the first to talk about Marathi Manoos issues. If it did not, there was always the chance that Raj Thackeray’s MNS would be quick to capitalise on that. As it went, Raj Thackeray stayed mum on the issue, and his party explained that this was an issue between the Shiv Sena and Sachin, and their party preferred not to talk about what the senior Thackeray says.

Lalu Prasad, the chief of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), said Bal Thackeray had no “moral authority” to comment on a national hero.

“Sachin Tendulkar is a national hero, and who is Bal Thackeray to comment on him?” Lalu Prasad told reporters.

Besides political leaders, several top sportsmen and sports officials have come out in support of Sachin Tendulkar.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was the first to react to Bal Thackeray’s criticism of Sachin’s statement.

Rajiv Shukla, spokesman of the BCCI and chairman of the BCCI’s finance committee, said Bal Thackeray was “talking like Mohammad Ali Jinnah.”

Sachin Tendulkar, Shukla stressed, is a nationalist. “Sachin is for Maharashtra, and he is for India, and if someone calls himself an Indian, is it a crime?” Shukla asked.

Olympian Milkha Singh, the sprint legend, remarked that Sachin did not say anything wrong and that he is “very happy” with what Sachin has said.

Ajit Wadekar, former Indian cricket captain, reacted to Bal Thackeray’s criticism of Sachin by saying that Sachin is playing for his country and “that has exactly what has motivated him to get the record.”

Azmi was assaulted the other day by legislators belonging to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for having taken oath Hindi instead of Marathi in the Maharashtra Assembly, defying the directive of MNS chief Raj Thackeray to take oath only in Hindi. Later, while speaking to the media, Abu Asim Azmi had said that Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena patriarch, was “old” and “child-like.” This led to protests by the Shiv Sena in the Maharashtra Assembly on the next day.

Photo: Abu Asim Azmi, SP MLA in Maharashtra Assembly slapped by MLAs from MNS

Amar Singh told a news conference in New Delhi that an anonymous caller rang him up on his mobile phone and told him that Abu Asim Azmi “will not be spared for his comments on Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.”

Amar Singh had earlier said that he received 3 anonymous phone calls threatening him with “dire consequences” if he visited Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Ganpatrao Deshmukh, the pro-tem Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly, has order an investigation into the “behaviour” of Abu Asim Azmi within the Assembly and on its premises.

The pro-tem Speaker ordered the inquiry after repeated allegations by the Opposition members that Azmi had made “provocative speeches” as well as “insulted” Bal Thackeray, the chief of the Shiv Sena.

Eknath Khadse, Leader of Opposition, demanded that the government also should investigate the charge levelled by the Opposition parties that Azmi indulged in inciting people outside the Assembly.

Members of the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena demanded that Abu Asim Azmi be arrested for his “misbehaviour” on the opening day of the Assembly session and for his remarks he made later against Bal Thackeray.

A group of Shiv Sainiks held a protests outside the Maharashtra Assembly, shouted slogans against Abu Asim Azmi and tried to burn his effigy. The police succeeded in bringing the situation under control and arrested some activists of the Shiv Sena.

Meanwhile, the attack on Abu Asim Azmi by the legislators of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for having taken oath in Hindi in the Maharashtra Assembly has come in for sever criticism from various organisations.

In a press release, Kiran Moghe, Maharashtra state president of the Akhil Bharatiya Janwadi Mahila Sanghatana (AIDWA), strongly condemned “the crude display of muscle power” by the newly elected MLAs of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

While it is necessary to safeguard the Marathi language and culture, she added in the press release, turning the Vidhan Sabha into a battleground and making the matter into an emotional issue in order to foster narrow-minded politics is unacceptable.

The Yuvak Kranti Dal said that the new legislators were perhaps “illiterate” of the ways of democracy.

The oath-taking is a solemn occasion, and the Constitution of India has listed the languages in which one may take oath, a press release from the Yuvak Kranti Dal said.

The election results have left the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main Opposition, more weakened in the first electoral test held after the general elections to Parliament in May 2009.

In Maharashtra, a state having much political significance, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance won 144 seats in the 288-member Assembly.
The BJP was victorious in 46 seats.

In the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress had a thumping victory – by bagging 42 seats of 60 seats.

However, in Haryana, the Congress could not put up a good performance, with the main Opposition party, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), climbing from just 9 seats in the 2005 Assembly elections to 31 seats this time. The Congress won 40 seats.

Though the Congress is the biggest party in Haryana, having won 40 out of the 90 seats, it is still being short of the halfway mark.

Many senior Congress leaders said they are happy with the outcome of the polls overall, but admitted that they had expected a more emphatic win.

There were wild scenes of jubilation outside the national headquarters of the Congress in New Delhi.

V Narayanasamy, Congress party general secretary and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, reacted to the poll outcome, saying that the results in Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh and Haryana have shown that the Congress is “the only party working for the welfare of the people.” The BJP, he added, is not just “down’ but also “almost out” of the national political scene.

According to him, the poll outcome is also a mandate given by the people for the “able leadership” of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as party general secretary and MP Rahul Gandhi.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP spokesman, blamed the electronic voting machines for the party’s debacle, remarking that the electronic voting machines had turned out to be “electronic victory machines” for the Congress.

However, Ravi Shankar Prasad, another spokesman for the BJP, said the party is “conceding the defeat with humility,” adding that the results were unexpected and the party should “honestly ponder over” its weaknesses and should act fast.

In a major upset in Maharashtra, Ramdas Kadam, Shiv Sena’s Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, lost to the NCP candidate.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the ruling Congress party will form a government on its own, after having swept the elections.

The results in Haryana turned out to be rather embarrassing for Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had called the elections seven months ahead of schedule, in the hope of benefiting from the Congress’ win in the May 2009 Lok Sabha elections, when the party had bagged 9 seats out of 10 seats.

Four ministers in Haryana – Transport Minister Mange Ram Gupta, Finance Minister Birender Singh, Cooperation Minister Meena Mandal and Education Minister A C Chaudhary – got defeated, as did Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Phool Chand Mullana.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda says he is confident of forming government, but Om Prakash Chautala, president of the Indian National Lok Dal, is of the opinion that the State Governor should invite the Opposition parties first and give them a chance to form government.

According to media reports, while the Congress is likely to contest in 174 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party is to contest in 114 seats.
The Congress has set up a committee to decide on the seat-sharing arrangements with the Nationalist Congress Party, which is led by Union Minister Sharad Pawar.

A senior leader of the Congress in Maharashtra was quoted as saying that the NCP has “almost agreed” to the seat-sharing formula put forward by the Congress and that the NCP could approach the Congress high command if it wants more seats.He added that the Congress was willing to the NCP up to 115 seats.

Defence Minister A K Antony, who is in charge of the affairs of the Congress in Maharashtra, has already held discussions with Sharad Pawar on the issue of seat-sharing among the alliance partners.

Praful Patel, leader of the NCP, told a news conference that his party was willing to “give up” a few seats to the Congress in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

The Congress had contested in a good number of seats in the last Assembly elections, Patel said, adding that the Congress would contest in more seats in the upcoming polls. A few seats have ceased to exist after delimitation.

In the last elections to the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly held in 2004, while the Congress had contested in 157 seats and won in seats 69, the NCP had contested in 124 seats and secured 71 seats.

The Congress had bolstered its position in Maharashtra after the last elections to the Lok Sabha when it bagged 17 out of the 26 seats where it had been in the fray. On the contrary, the NCP put up a poor show by winning only 8 out of the 22 seats it had contested.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has petitioned the Election Commission of India requesting early Assembly elections in Jharkhand.

The BJP’s move is seen by political observers as a part of the party’s continued campaign to exert pressure on the UPA-led Central Government to conduct Assembly elections in Jharkhand at the earliest.

The term of President’s rule in Jharkhand ends on January 19, 2010.

The BJP wants the Jharkhand polls to be held along with the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana which will be held in the first half of October 2009.

Soon afterwards, the communal tension shot up and riots spread to other areas in Maharashtra.

An all-party meeting was held in Mumbai, on September 8, 2009, to work out a peace agenda.

It was unanimously decided that political leaders will not visit the riot-hit Sangli district in Maharashtra till the situation there returns to normal.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said that those who attended the all-party meeting included Deputy Chief Minister Bhujbal, Home Minister Jayant Patil, Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Nitin Gadkari, BJP general secretary and MP Gopinath Munde, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi and Republican Party of India (RPI) president Ramdas Athawle.

After the meeting, the political leaders, in a joint statement, appealed to the residents of the riot-hit areas to keep peace and ensure that the immersions of the Ganesh idols are held smoothly.

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan announced that cases filed against “innocent people” during the period of rioting will be withdrawn.

The government, however, did not make any official announcement over the poster which had led to the communal strife and the subsequent riots.

The immersion of the Ganesh idols was performed in Miraj on September 9, 2009, by relaxing the curfew for some hours.

On September 7, 2009, BJP leaders Gopinath Munde and Vinod Tawde were prevented by the police from travelling to the communally tense regions, following which the BJP had threatened a state-wide agitation.

Munde declared at the all-party meeting held on September 9, 2009, that he will not visit Miraj and other parts of Sangli district and that all the political parties have decided not to politicise the unhappy incidents.

Gopinath Munde had earlier criticized the ruling Democratic Front of Maharashtra for having taken a “biased approach” to the communal riots and for preventing his visit to Sangli and nearby areas.

He had also alleged that the state government was “politicizing” the communal riots in Sangli by allowing the leaders of the Congress Party and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to visit the riot-affected regions while preventing him from doing the same.

R R Patil, state president of the Nationalist Congress Party, who visited the violence-hit Miraj, Sangli and Tasgaonon on September 8, 2009, told reporters “it appeared that the riots have been spread in a planned manner” and that the police are trying to nab the “conspirators.”

Raj Thackeray

This article is critical of Shobhaa De. But that does mean that I am against Maharashtrians. If your brain is so small, you should not be on this site anyway. I personally believe that Maharashtrians’ economic status, jobs and culture – all are important issues under threat. And I would write about my suggestions for them too. But this is specific to the interview.

Karan Thapar was, as usual, banal. Perhaps the medium demands it, but I can’t believe these silly, black or white questions are the best that he can come up with.

Shobhaa De disappointed me, though. She had stuff to say, sure, but not much of that would stand up to scrutiny in my opinion.

I say this as a Malayali who landed in Mumbai in 1994, slowly moved up in life, had to deal with a lot of Maharashtrians and made friends with quite a few of them.

Still her understanding of the issues seem peripheral to me; with or without MNS and Raj Thackeray.

Upcoming articles

• Where is the sensible Maharashtrian leader with a vision?
• Pride and economy are two issues
• The costs and benefits of a cosmopolitan city – do Maharashtrians really want one?

First, let me go through the interview and try to intersperse my comments wherever I think she has got it wrong.

Maharashtrians last and everyone else first?

Karan Thapar: … Today, when people come from outside Maharashtra to live in Mumbai, do they have as much a claim on the city as Maharashtrians or is it Maharashtrians first and everyone afterwards?

Shobhaa De: In fact it’s quite to the contrary – it’s Maharashtrians’ last and everyone else’s first. I don’t blame the ‘everybody else’ and I don’t look at them as outsiders. I think Maharashtrians need to do a great deal of inward thinking and inward looking to figure out for themselves as to why the city’s complexion has changed the way it has and why it has been hijacked – in their minds – by outsiders who are laying claim to it.

Shobhaa De on MNS, Raj Thackeray, Maharashtrians and outsiders

I have a problem with that first line. That is typical defeatist thinking. Everybody else is not first, and Maharashtrians are surely not last in Mumbai. If you are poor or lower-middle class like how I was when I landed in Mumbai, the Maharashtrians you meet are often rude, impolite, make sarcastic remarks about your Hindi (or the lack of it, and Marathi too).

I have seen several taxi drivers and security guards complaining of bad behaviour from Maharashtrians. Things change the higher up you go. At the socially and financially higher levels of society, there are no Maharashtrians in any significant number to be rude to you. As I earned more money, I could divorce myself from the Maharashtrian-dominated lower classes and move to the upper middle class levels in society where interaction with Maharashtrians was lesser. So, if we are talking about the North Indians and their life in Mumbai, they deal with Maharashtrians – hotel waiters, peons, labourers, cops – and they are definitely have a bad time.

Shobhaa De also says, ‘It has been hijacked in their minds.” She means Mumbai. She is right, and she is wrong. How so?

If you look at Mumbai, the population of Mumbai is largely non-Maharashtrian. So population-wise, Mumbai has been hijacked. In what other sense? Culturally? But when was culturally Mumbai a city of Maharashtrians? It never was. Despite being the capital, it was never the cultural capital of Maharashtra. That was Pune. This was a British city, where a lot of people moved into, including Maharashtrians. But outsiders who came were more dynamic – as most Maharashtrians would admit – and took over business and enterprise, while the less enterprising, culturally oriented Maharashtrians could not afford to live in a more and more extensive city and slowly started moving out to the suburbs.

Jobs for Maharashtrians

Later, Shobaa De says this,” I am definitely saying that Maharashtrians are getting a raw deal in Mumbai.”

In some ways, this might be true. Especially in the case of Railways. But I am yet to make up my mind on it. Maharashtrians say Railways conspire to ensure Maharashtrians do not enter railways, and do not advertise job openings and tests in local newspapers. I have heard that that it is just propaganda. I do not know the truth, but this has to be investigated. The latest exams, where MNS activists beat up Bihari and UP students, were advertised in Lokmat and Loksatta. So that particular protest was just an excuse. But it is possible, and preference to locals in unskilled jobs should be given. Why not? I think there are existing laws for that anyway. But then, it also depends on whether a lot of Maharashtrians are available to fill those jobs. The average Maharashtrian is not interested in low level jobs, while the poor Maharashtrian is in the villages.

Shobhaa De: They are too laid back and also there’s a certain intellectual arrogance which means Maharashtrians will not do the kind of jobs like dhobis (washermen), darbans (attendants), bhel-puri waala (street-food shop owner), taxi driver – which they consider, may be, a little demeaning and beneath themselves. But there are articulate, intelligent, educated Maharashtrians who are also not getting a shot at jobs. I can really understand their peeve too.

Maharashrians are beginning to exploit Mumbai’s opportunities, finally

Not all Maharashtrians are laid back. I know many who are doing well. While one can figure out they are not really comfortable with the cut-and-thrust and job-hopping of the new economy, they do it well enough to reap the benefits. Shiv Sena leaders themselves were reported in the media often saying that “our boys do not want to do service jobs” like a salesman’s job. But I object when she says that articulate, intelligent Maharashtrians are not getting jobs.

I came across the educated Maharashtrian only when I joined a company where the majority of employees were Maharashtrian. Now, this company was owned by a Punjabi – a lot of the senior guys were from across the country. But most jobs easily went to the local Marathi boys and girls. Why? These were the articulate, skilled, capable boys and girls – and it was easier to find them! You just had to ask one Maharashtrian employee if he knew anyone who was good enough for a specific job, and he would definitely bring you some good people.

When I made friends with Maharashtrian colleagues, I also noticed that if they were smart and articulate, the entire spectrum of jobs in Mumbai became open to them. They were as good as they wanted to be. I personally think these Marathi boys and girls were really good, and the younger ones would be even better. So they were slow in learning to exploit the financial capital of India, but that won’t last and they will be as deadly as any of the new generation in a few years from now.

Speaking Marathi in Mumbai

Karan Thapar: … First, the people who live in Mumbai should speak Marathi. Do you agree with that?

Shobhaa De: Well, if you go to West Bengal, Karan, do you hear anything but Bengali being spoken? Does anyone mind? You go to Karnataka, do you hear anything but Kannada being spoken? If you go to Tamil Nadu, do you hear anything but Tamil being spoken? So in that sense, may be a disconnect is happening in Mumbai. People think Mumbai belongs to all of India and therefore not parochially bound.

Karan Thapar: They are forgetting it’s a Maharashtrian city?

Shobhaa De: In a way, yes. Also, it’s a Maharashtrian city, people who choose to live there should learn and speak Marathi. If I were to make West Bengal my home, I jolly well learn Bengali. If I choose to live in Punjab, I should learn to speak in Punjabi. All the signages, all over India, happen to be in two languages, sometimes in three. You go anywhere in India, the signages are in local script. Why is it that Mumbai is being picked on for insisting on both signages – Devnagiri, which is also Marathi, and English.

Ah. Now this is worth talking about.

Is Mumbai a Maharashtrian city?

Shobhaa De, MNS, Raj Thackeray, SHiv Sena and Maharashtrians are right when they say that in most big cities in India, the local language is the prevalent language. But it is not entirely right, too. Bangalore has a lot of outsiders, and they often speak in Hindi or English. But generally she is right when she talks about other cities and comapre them to Mumbai.

But.

Mumbai is, like it or not, so far, India’s only real cosmopolitan city. There is no other city like that in India. Not even Delhi.

(Well, Maharashtrians may not want it that way if that means Marathi culture may be destroyed by that cosmopolitan city – but that’s another article I am going to write later.)

It is a city where money speaks. It is, or was, as capitalist as one could get in India. In an aggressive business-oriented city, people speak what works. If all the CEOs in Mumbai, all the stock brokers, all the factory owners, all the IT company management were moneyed Maharashtrians, all their employees would be speaking in Marathi too. I know I would be.

In Mumbai, money is the language

There is something I once told a Maharashtrian friend. While discussing the language issue, I said, “See, you are a Maharashtrian. But I am Mallu. I am slowly learning Hindi and speaking it, but not Marathi. Why? Because apart from you and my colleagues here, I hear Marathi spoken by cops, bais, coolies, bus drivers and conductors. I do not hear it being spoken by my CEO or any CEO. My interviews happen in English.”

This is not to insult the Marathi language. But it is the true state of affairs. It is a language with a rich cultural heritage, which I often suspect is superior than my mother-tongue. But I am here to make a life for myself, and I would choose the language which helps me do that. For me, in Mumbai, it was English and to a lesser extent, Hindi. Not Marathi, by a long stretch.

Mumbai, like all cosmopolitan cities, speaks what works. None of the other cities in Shobhaa’s list are cosmopolitan – and they are nowhere near Mumbai in anything. Sure, I can go to Thiruvananthapuram and speak all I want in Malayalam. But I am here because this is where I can make a life.

Respect is earned – not legislated.

Back to Shobhaa De now.

Shobhaa De: You don’t hear Marathi in Mumbai anymore. You just don’t hear it. You try and ask for directions – stop anyone on the road – and chances are they’ll say we have no idea because we’ve come from UP or Bihar or wherever

Karan Thapar: So this, in a sense, irks Maharashtrians – the fact that in their capital you don’t hear Marathi, that UP-ites, Biharis and Punjabis seem to dominate irritates them.

….

Shobhaa De: I would definitely say so because the educated may think it politically incorrect to state as much but the feeling lingers.

Karan Thapar: But not to the extent of dominate Maharashtrians in Maharashtra.

Shobhaa De: And pushing them out of their own capital.

Shobhaa De: When you have slogans written all over the walls in Mumbai saying, ‘UP hamari hai, ab Maharashtra ki baari hai’ (UP is ours, now for Maharahtra)

Marathi is very much heard in Mumbai. Maybe Shobhaa De moves in elite circles where are there are not too many Maharashtrians. It is not heard enough to satisfy everyone for sure. But like I said before, in Mumbai, people do what works. If Maharashtrians are only 35 %, chances are, conversations would be in Hindi, Marathi and English. I can say that I hear English in Mumbai much less than Marathi – and as a financial capital, English should be heard more. What you hear is irrelevant if it works.

And I have stopped people on the road and asked for directions. People do not know where many places are because it is often confusing. It is only in small towns of India that everyone knows where every place is. The same happens in Delhi and Bangalore.

Are Maharashtrians being pushed out of Mumbai?

Nobody ‘pushes’ Maharashtrians out of Mumbai. If I have a house to sell, and if a Mahrashtrian offers me more money than a South Indian or a Punjabi or a North Indian, I would sell it to him. If Maharashtrians are finding it difficult to stay in the city, that is because a lot of them are not doing financially as well as the newcomers.

But that is capitalism. You have to fight and compete. And competing is new for Maharashtrians, but they are learning it.

But the newcomers are definitely more driven than Maharashtrians, so it is natural. People who come from another place to make a life have more desire to really work hard and do it. People who were in a place for generations are not that aggressive in using every opportunity. It is pretty normal. Like I said, Maharashtrians are learning how to do that, and in another 10 or twenty years, a lot of Maharashtrians would be back as they can afford the cost of living. It is not great to hear, but again, thats how a growing city works. Blame capitalism if you want, but that’s all there is to it.

SP and MNS slogan battles- its not against Maharashtrians, but against MNS

The slogans? I don’t think those slogans are everywhere – but it is obviously a response by SP to MNS. SP is obviously trying to fish in troubled waters. It is a challenge by SP to MNS. It is not a challenger to Maharashtrians. Unfortunately, if we think we are with MNS, it would affect us. The way to deal with it is to ignore it. That is the rational way.

Maharashtrian intellectuals and leadership

Karan Thapar: So you are saying that intellectuals either support Raj Thackeray or oppose him but don’t stay silent.

Shobhaa De: I am saying speak up, whatever your point of view is. You agree or you don’t, it’s not Raj Thackeray who’s the issue, it’s the pride of Maharashtra that’s at stake.

It is because of the our goonda, your goonda mentality. Why do a lot of people support the Bajrang Dal even they are disgusted by their violence? They are our goondas. That’s why. Same goes for MNS. A lot of intellectuals understand the feelings of Maharashtrians, and they do not have a sensible Maharashtrian alternative to Raj Thackeray. Why are they not forming that alternative? Raj Thackeray’s (and Shiv Sena’s) reaction to public criticism of them would be to beat you up.

Street plays? Thrash them. Abuse them. Intellectuals are not used to dealing with things acording to the rules of the street – and that is where Thackerays excel. I would not want to be the intellectual who offers a criticism of  Thackeray and then get beaten up when I walk out of the house.  Kumar Ketkar, editor of leading Marathi daily Loksatta was attacked because he wrote what he thought was wasteful expenditure when there were bigger issues. MNS and Sena do not appreciate criticism, and you would not want to be at the receiving end. This is not a debating society – coherent arguments about pros and cons about Maharashtrian issues, and Sena-MNS tactics would be answered with a punch to the face.

MNS (or Sena) is not Maharashtra

My feeling is that Shobhaa De too has fallen prey to the us-or-them mentality. It is normal too. For those who think I am against her or Maharashtrians or MNS or Sena, I would like to clarify that this article is about the particular interview of Shobhaa De. It was written for the express purpose of debunking what she said.

My next article would be about the real problems of Maharashtrians. The way I see it, the jobs issue and the Marathi pride issue are not one issue, they are two. And I will tackle both of them soon.

A lot of Maharashtrians are making the mistake of identifying themselves with Sena or MNS. Just because someone says some things which appeal to you, that does not mean they are your representatives. Decent people can only be represented by other decent people.

There is no representative to the real Maharashtrian at this point, and there is a big market for one. A decent guy who understands and speaks to the Maharashtrians as well as others and who does not use violence as a means. It is only because such a personality is absent that Maharashtrians are forced to support the MNS or Sena. In my opinion, thats a mistake.