Manoos Vs Marathi Manoos-2

I was in grade 9 and we used to have a history teacher, Mishra Maa'm. One day,while discussing the concept of British India and Princely states, she digressed a little and exclaimed, "Just look, we have a 'rashtra' within 'rashtra' and that too 'maha'rashtra! " Thackreys are known to take this too seriously. What Raj Thackery is saying now has been the bread and butter statement of the senior one, Bal Thackery since the formation of Shiv Sena in 1966.

Ever thought why this sudden spurt of statements and speeches about North Indians Vs Marathi Manoos? The answer lies in the identity crisis that MNS is facing not only in Maharashtra but even in Mumbai. With much fanfare Raj Thackery defected from Shiv Sena. This when Bal T. continued the great tradition of Indian politics by naming his little known and almost politically inactive/unknown (till that time) son Uddhav T as his successor and not the popular nephew Raj T. With no power and no mood to work at grass root level and with goons at various party positions, nothing happened for MNS. Many Shiv Sainiks who became part of MNS after the defection went back to the parent organisation in a matter of months and then the masses just accepted it as a small regional outfit somewhere between Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP. Subsequent By-elections told the same story. This marathi Manoos drama is just to make his presence felt by Raj T.

The basic ideology behind this call of 'North Indian's,Quit Maharashtra' call is so trash that even writing a blog on it seems like a waste of time. The notion that a particular city belongs to its natives and the people from other states or regions cannot work in that city is against the very essence of our Constitution and the concept of our national unity. Our Constitution has given the right to every citizen to work and earn living anywhere in the country. According to Mr Raj T, all North Indians should leave Maharashtra as they are eating up jobs of the native Marathis. Now, does that mean all Marathi Manoos all over the world leave their jobs and go back to Maharashtra as certainly they are also eating up somebody's job in their respective part of the world? Call Centres in Maharashtra should follow the same fate? In fact all those who are working abroad should be beaten and dragged on street (as MNS guys did to a few taxi drivers and street vendors) as they are taking jobs of natives? I am sorry Mr Raj, we live in a more civilised society.

And it would be interesting to see his dictum for the marathis who are settled in North India but are currently working in various IT companies in Mumbai/Pune? Do they need to go back too or will they get the benefit of doubt? Divide and Rule worked in 18th century but hopefully it wont work now. Even after spitting so much venom, Mumbai largely remained calm. Literate and employed people understand this gutter politics better but unfortunately these politicians, as always, underestimate common man's wisdom.


In a time when India is getting polarised with each passing day, where on the same page of a newspaper you can read mob lynching a person and Indra Nooyi being named among 10 best CEOs, nobody is ready to work to bring these two poles together. Not that anything is expected from outfits like MNS and Shiv Sena. They should stick to their basic principles namely tearing Valentine's day cards, digging cricket pitches and slapping the hapless taxi driver from UP.

Cheers!