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Template:Hindu politics "Bal" Keshav Thackeray (Marathi: बाळ केशव ठाकरे bāḷ keśav ṭhākare) (born January 23, 1927), popularly called 'Balasaheb', 'Sher', 'Tiger', or "Hridaysamrat" is the founder and president of the Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist and populist party mainly present in Maharashtra, India.
Background
Thackeray was born in a Kayastha Maratha family and is a Hindu revivalist and Hindu nationalist. Several nationalists within the Shiv Sena (which he helped found) and other Hindu-centric political parties brand him as Hindu Hridaysamrat ("Emperor of the Hindu heart").
Career
Thackeray started his career as a cartoonist in the Free Press Journal of Mumbai in the 1950s, and was a contemporary of R K Laxman during his early years. His cartoons were also published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times. In 1960, he launched a cartoon weekly Marmik with his brother. He used it to campaign against the growing influence of non-Marathi people in Mumbai. He has also fought trade union control battles with the Communists and Indian National Congress.
He formed the Shiv Sena in 1966 with the intent of fighting for the rights of the natives of the state of Maharashtra (called Maharashtrians). Politically, it has allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Industrialists were generally satisfied with the his clout since Thackeray's draconian control over the employees would ensure a peaceful work environment .
Thackeray has claimed that the party has benefited the Marathi Manus (Marathi man) in Mumbai, especially in the public sector.. The opposing left wing alleges the Sena has done little to solve the problem of unemployment facing a large proportion of Maharashtrian youth during its tenure, in contradiction to its ideological foundation of 'sons of the soil.'. In addition, Thackeray played a central role in the emancipation of 500,000 slum dwellers in the Dharavi area of Mumbai, the largest slum in Asia. However, the state's policy of giving free houses to slum dwellers has been subject to controversy by the opposing leftist parties ever since it was introduced by the Shiv Sena-BJP government a decade ago .
In addition, he led the Sena to an active role in trying to improve infrastructure in Maharashtra, particularly in the financial capital of Mumbai. Nearly 40 flyovers in Mumbai and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway were constructed under the Shiv Sena administration, which led to a significant infrastructural boom in Mumbai. While successive State governments have been guilty of neglecting Mumbai's transport problems, the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP government drastically altered the course. Moreover, by initiating a range of road schemes, the Sena unequivocally opted for private, motorised transport in preference to public transport..These moves have been a crucial factor in its increasing popularity within India and the promises of further improvement have boosted the Shiv Sena's campaigns.
In addition to improvements in transport infrastructure, Thackeray has supported initiatives against proprietary technologies such as the "Conditional Access System" for television networks (which would have led to cable companies charging more for channels). He has also questioned the government’s procedure of divesting equity in oil refining and marketing majors, effectively "selling" profitable oil companies out.
Controversy
Thackeray is very vocal in his opposition to people who migrate to Mumbai, to non-Hindus, and to Pakistanis. In the late 1970s, as part of his "Maharashtra is for Maharashtrians" campaign, Thackeray threatened South Indians with harm unless they left Mumbai. However, since then he has become sympathetic towards the South Indian community. He even sympasized with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (L.T.T.E) when the Indian government reverseved its policy and began fighting the L.T.T.E rather than previosuly assisting them.
Views on Hitler
Thackeray continues to publish inflammatory editorials in his party's newsletter, Sāmna (Confrontation). He was quoted by Asiaweek as saying "I am a great admirer of Hitler, and I am not ashamed to say so! I do not say that I agree with all the methods he employed, but he was a wonderful organizer and orator, and I feel that he and I have several things in common...What India really needs is a dictator who will rule benevolently, but with an iron hand." . His opponents have used this remark against him and accused him of a fascist ideology. His proponents argue that he has been quoted out of context.
Views on Muslims
In the 1980's he had stated that:
"They were spreading like a cancer and should be operated on like a cancer. The...country should be saved from the Muslims and the police should support them in their struggle just like the police in Punjab were sympathetic to the Khalistanis."
Bal Thackeray criticized and challenged Indian Muslims through his party newspaper, Sāmna, around the time the 16th century Babri Masjid was demolished by members of the Shiv Sena and the BJP in the northern town of Ayodhya, on 6 December 1992. The claim of many Hindus and some scholars is that the Babri Mosque was built on the demolished ruins of a Hindu temple in the 16th century, and is believed by many to be the Ramjanmabhoomi (birthplace of the Hindu God-King Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, one of the Trimurti of the Hindu Pantheon).
The Justice Srikrishna Commission of Enquiry, which investigated the ensuing communal riots in Mumbai, indicted Thackeray of sparking anti-Muslim violence, which led to more than 1,000 deaths in several ensuing riots, though the death toll during the actual act of the demolition was zero. The Srikrishna Commission found that Thackeray was personally responsible, not only for inciting the mobs through his incendiary speeches, but also directly coordinating the movement of the rioters. At the time, Thackeray made allegations that the Commission was "biased" and "anti-Hindu". His views were not supported outside of the Shiv Sena party.
Francois Gautier, a French writer, has praised Thackeray for his hardline stance on Muslims and criticizes mainstream Hindu society for attacking him for his views. He writes:
"What happens when there is ONE man in India -- whatever his faults, quirks, or excesses -- who dares to call a spade a spade, is not afraid of words and is ready to stand-up for his opinions? Not only, of course, is he attacked but he is also hounded by his own brothers and sisters, the "secular" Hindus. Are Hindus so intent to show the world that not only are they cowards but also idiots? This man, of course, is Bal Thackeray"
However, in an interview in 1998, he claims to have tempered his stance on many issues that the Shiv Sena had with muslims, particularly regarding the Babri Mosque or Ramjanmabhoomi issue , saying:
"We must look after the Muslims and treat them as part of us"
Rift in Party
An increase in intra-party rivalry between Bal Thackeray's son Uddhav Thackeray, and nephew Raj Thackeray has led to some divisions within the Shiv Sena. Senior Sena leaders, such as former Chief Minister Manohar Joshi have sided with Udhav, while hard-line leaders such as Narayan Rane and Sanjay Nirupam have sided with Raj. Both these leaders were later expelled from Sena and joined Indian National Congress.
On December 18, 2005, Raj Thackeray announced his resignation as a primary member of the Shiv Sena. On March 19, 2006, Raj announced the formation of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
Valentine's Day protests
Boycotting shops and restaurants that allow young people to celebrate the Western holiday of St. Valentine's Day, interpreted as bestial, indecent and un-Bharatiya (Indian) by Thackeray, is one of his recent actions. These boycotts have often culminated in violence and the destruction of said shops. On February 14, 2006, Bal Thackeray condemned and apologized for the violent attacks of Shiv Sena members upon a private Valentine's Day celebration in Mumbai. "It is said that women were beaten up in the Nallasopara incident. If that really happened, then it is a symbol of cowardice," Thackeray said, "I have always instructed Shiv Sainiks that in any situation women should not be humiliated and harassed." Thackeray and the Shiv Sena remain opposed to Valentine's Day celebrations, although they may support an "Indian alternative."
References
- ^ ""Sena fate: From roar to meow"". The Times of India. Retrieved 2006-08-11.
- ""On the wrong track"". The Hindu. Retrieved 2006-08-11.
- ""Diversionary tactics"". The Hindu Frontline Magazine. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
- Rediff News.
- Dharavi slum will be economic hub: Joshi
- Driving to nowhere
- Address loopholes in CAS: Shiv Sena,The Hindu Business Line
- Shiv Sena’s views,The Tribune
- ^ The Rediff Election Interview/Bal Thackeray,Rediff.com
- Bal Thackeray in India Today, June 15, 1984.
- The Shiv Sena indicted,The Hindu
- Are Hindus Cowards by Francois Gautier,Rediff.com
External links
- Profile by BBC dated July 19, 2000 referring to him as the "uncrowned monarch of Maharashtra"
- "Bal Thackeray: The Tiger who can't be tamed" - HindustanTimes.com article dated September 8, 2004
- "Are Hindus cowards?" - Rediff Article in praise of Thackeray
- Shiv Sena Informational piece circulated during the 2004 election year