The Politics Of Regionalism In India

The Politics of Regionalism in India Buzz up! ShareThisSep 14 2008 | Views 417 | Comments (0) Leave a Comment Tags: Raj Thackeray Mumbai Regionalism Maharashtra Raj Thackeray and Divisive Politics Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has been in the news ever since he raised anti-... more on Raj Thackeray and Divisive Politics 'Mumbai Kisi Ka Baap Ka Nahin' rightly thundered Joint Commissioner of Police Shri K.L. Prasad. Enough is Enough. If people like Raj Thackery had their own way, Marathi Manoos will live in Mumbai, Gujaratis will live in Gujarat, Tamilians in Tamil Nadu and Bhaiyyas in Uttar Pradesh and so on. Visas will be issued for people of one state to visit another state. Even our armed forces will refuse to serve outside their native state. India still ranks no.2 in the no. of Aids patients. We rank high in poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. Our human development indices are very low. Farmers are creating suicide in Marathwada and Vidharbha. But educated people like Raj Thackeray believe that throwing outsiders from every state will solve the country's problem. And mind you, they never target the rich and famous. The tirade against the Bachchan family is only for scoring political brownie points. Their hooligans will beat only the poor hapless and defenceless taxiwallas and the bhelpuriwalas. We have also seen similar scenes in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Constitution of India entitles every Indian an equal right to live and work in any part of the country he resides in. But such regional leaders never succeed. The media is also to blame for hyping such leaders and bringing them fame. The government and the police are also to blame for their inaction and their inability to respond to the law and order situation quickly. If the Tamilians or the Bhaiyyas succeed in Mumbai, it is due to their merits and ability. And the local Maharashtrians really have no problem with them. The laundrywallah Bhaiyya, the Tamilian who runs the grocery shop, the Bihari who prepares delicious Pani Puri co existed side by side with the Maharashtrian Vada Pav stalls since their birth. In fact, these so called Bhaiyyas or Tamilians have made Maharashtra their home. So are the Maharashtrians who are residing in various other states and even in foreign countries. And regarding flouting rules and laws, every community does that. It is the responsibility of each one of us to maintain the sanctity of the Constitution and the rule of law in our country. Otherwise we will all meet the fate of that poor man who happened to be a Maharashtrian but fell victim to stone pelting by his own people. Raj Thackeray by choosing an aggressive anti-North stand has incurred the wrath of all the respectable Mumbaikars. Violence against the common man can never be used as a tool to settle political battles. Unfortunately, the ruling government was sleeping, law and order was nonexistent and the parties like the Samajwadi Party and the likes of Abu Azmi added fuel to the fire. Mumbai has always been a cosmopolitan city encompassing several communities. Its very identity has been shaped by such cosmopolitan culture. The Migrants have always been coming to Mumbai from outside Mumbai and from outside states and have always strengthened the city rather than destroying it. In fact the city would be non-existant without migrants. The problem is that parties like Shiv Sena and now the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena!! could not create their vote base consistently in this city due to this migrant population. Hence, they always try to find any opportunity to take potshots at these migrants as the reason for all the ills in the city. The Shiv Sena's statement targetting Shah Rukh Khan as a Dilli wallah was equally baffling.

When everyone is a migrant, then no one is an outsider. The migrant nature of the city is the very reason why a woman right from the kamwali bhai to the clerk to the bhaji wali to the corporate; feel safer in Mumbai than anywhere else, at any hour, in any situation. Mumbai's locals still run packed with ladies in wee hours of the night. Its women were migrants too and they are determined to carve out their space. Mumbai women were on the street and in the local trains going to and from their workplace long before their cloistered sisters elsewhere. We do not want any cultural police over here to prevent the freedom of the Mumbaikars and trying to convert Mumbai into another Taliban. Whether it is a Bihari or a Madrasi or a Gujarati, all are Mumbaikars and will be Mumbaikars. Here you can see a mix of languages and the famed Bambaiyya tapori language. A Maharashtrian is very eager to pick Tamil or Bengali, while the migrants very quickly adapt to the Marathi language and speak Marathi better. The natives of this city have no problem with these migrants, only the self styled moral police like the Shiv Sena and now the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena feel threatened by them. Mumbaikars have learnt to adapt, and live in the togetherness of strangers and there lies the inherent strength of Mumbai. That is why a Bengali from Kolkata, a Punjabi from Punjab or a Madrasi do better in Mumbai rather than in their home state. The difference between the Mumbai migrant, and those you might see pouring into Kolkata or other states is hope, not desperation. It creates a kind of positive energy that marks immigrant nations like the US or Canada. Even when Mumbai was engulfed with communal rights, it returned back to embrace its original god of ambition and wealth. This fabled spirit of Mumbai is bound by its compulsion to get back to dhandha or business as usual and reflects its liberal outlook.