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Why is Mumbai Burning?

When Raj Thackeray, part-time builder, disgruntled former member of the family-controlled Shiv Sena and a frustrated politician, launched his vicious hate campaign against north Indians in Mumbai earlier this year, sections within the ruling dispensation in Maharashtra sensed an opportunity to strike at the opposition, by creating a rift within its support base.

Raj, who grew up in the lap of luxury in the Thackeray household, and is a man known to enjoy the good life — he is fond of fast cars, expensive watches and fashionable clothes — could make life difficult for the Shiv Sena by splitting its loyal vote bank, it was felt by many in the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Beyond that, he could at worst prove to be of some nuisance value and could soon be put down.

But as many politicians in India and elsewhere in the world have learnt, much to their chagrin, it is easy to create a Frankenstein, difficult to bottle up. While Raj initially emerged as a handy tool for the Congress-NCP combine to beat the Shiv Sena with his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), with its parochial and hate-filled anti-migrant agenda, has gained a momentum of its own that threatens to ignite a conflagration that could scald not just Maharashtra, but other major states of India including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Last week’s shameful episode, when students from Bihar — who had come to Mumbai to sit for a Railway Recruitment Board examination — were attacked by MNS rowdies, triggered off a nationwide furore, leading to the arrest of Raj Thackeray. However, the failure of the state government to pin him on serious charges has led to courts releasing him on bail.

As with most such ‘movements,’ launched by ‘limousine leaders’ — who never travel by trains and buses, but incite their followers to set public vehicles afire — who have expensive tastes, but a frivolous grasp over political issues, the MNS has drawn criminal and lumpen elements who invariably attack the poor, destroy public properties and make life miserable for ordinary citizens.

Raj Thackeray’s provocative speeches have led to frequent attacks on poor north Indian migrants, who come to cities like Mumbai in search of a livelihood. Far from snatching jobs from locals — most of who would never consider taking up such ‘lowly’ tasks as driving taxis or auto-rickshaws, or pulling carts — they provide essential services in an expanding economy.

The MNS was established by Raj after he parted company with the Shiv Sena, following his being sidelined by his uncle, Bal Thackeray, the founder of the rabidly Hindu communal outfit, who preferred to back his own son, Uddhav. When the MNS failed to make much headway politically, Raj decided to revive the Sena’s diabolical and divisive strategy, inciting Maharashtrian youth to attack north Indian migrants.

A weak state administration, led by two bickering partners — the Congress and the NCP — chose to ignore Raj’s rantings; worse, many in government encouraged him, hoping he would nibble into the Shiv Sena’s support base. Way back in the 1960s, the Congress had adopted a similar strategy, promoting Bal Thackeray and using him to bludgeon the Communists in Bombay.

The move expectedly backfired, with the Sena emerging as a hydra-headed monster, fanning the flames of communal disharmony. Successive governments in Maharashtra watched helplessly as the party resorted to violence, targetting people of different communities and religions. Sadly, by letting Raj and his hooligans run riot, the state government is ensuring the Sena era redux.