Here are some thaughts from me and a bit of info from Wikipedia about an issue I'v wanted to write about for quiet some time. The bandhs, the mara-mari and all the tod-phod caused by Raj Thackarey and his Maharashtra Navanirman Sena to protect the common Marathi-manoos. Wasnt that so obvious?
Dang and DJ recently re-re-christened me and Jhoola as Baba Saheb Thackarey and Jhoola Thackarey after a long and dicey discussion about this particular issue. I personally feel it has all been blown out of praportions by our good old politicians. Their politically motivated fiery speeches (seat ke liye sala kuch bhi karega) and mirch-masala from the media (TRPs ke liye sala kuch bhi karega) added fuel to the fire (quiet literally). As far as Raj is concerned I dont know whether all this was for the marathi-manoos and the mumbaikars or for the kursi or maybe for both. I dont even support his overtly violent methods. But (theres always a 'but'), I stand by the issues he raised. In a newspaper interview he said 'Mumbai badly needs a Narendra Modi'. Maybe it does, maybe not. But Mumbai really needs help...
Mumbai is my home. I feel city-sick rather than home-sick. Today Mumbai Metropolitan Region (not including navi Mumbai and other areas) has a population of 2,00,00,000+ and thats just the number of people legally settled in the city! The whole state of Gujarat just has a population of 5crores. It houses the largest slum area in whole of Asia (dharavi). At night most foot-paths are used to sleep on and so are parks, stations, bus stops, roads, beaches and I can just go on and on with it. Trains are over crowded, buses are over crowded, roades are over crowded the whole city is fuckin over crowded...
Back to the point anti north-Indians campaign. The railway exam fuss is not something new, the issue was raised in 2003 by Shiv Sena. These exams are conducted for job openings in Railways in Maharashtra and especially Mumbai. Allegations were made saying that although 500 Maharashtrian candidates were selected, the final results on July 21, 2003 declared only ten of them successful. However, 90 per cent of the successful candidates were from Bihar. The High Court also issued a notice to Nitish Kumar and other railway officials regarding this and a further invistigation was to be conducted. Something similar happened on October 19, 2008 only this time MNS took the initiative. No local newspaper in Maharashtra had the advertisement announcing this Railways exam. However some newspapers back in UP and Bihar had the ad. Lalu it is said had announced the job openings in Bihar during some speech. Invistigation regarding this issue too was to be done. On the first working day following the incident uproarous scene ere seen in the national parliament. Numerous members of Parliament condemned the attacks. Anant Geete of the Shiv Sena, tried to give the other side of the story by noting the 42 lakh educated and unemployed youth in Maharashtra. Stating that the Marathis were getting a raw deal in central government jobs such as income tax and the railways, Narayan Rane said it was perplexing that of 54,000, only 54 Marathis were summoned for the railway recruitment exams this year. The railways must give Marathis their legitimate share in employment.
Now some incidents of violence against North Indians were just bogus. As we all know one of the so called killings turned out to be a rail accident as per a cctv recording. Not a big deal as 7-8 people die daily while travelling in the ever-crowded over-crowded local trains. Some other incidens were just cases of marital disputes (a case in Kalyan) or Land Disputes (Mumbai) that were glorified by media and politicians into communal killings. Some I must accept were truly cases of communal killings and riots, I do not support such acts. But then this was just politics.
Now about Big B, I initially thaught it was on Jaya Bacchan's comment about being UPwale and talking in Hindi not Marathi. Thats not the case I got to know later from a local newspaper in Mumbai. Raj just commented on the fact that Big B is helping out UP -his native place- every now and then by featuring in ad campaigns or by opening schools named after Aishwarya, which is not a bad thing. But has he done anything for Mumbai or Maharashtra from where he gets all his money. What has he given to the city which gave him everything? Nothing. To this Jaya ji, the politician retorted, "I heard that Raj Thackeray owns huge properties in Maharashtra, in Mumbai at Kohinoor Mills. If he is willing to donate land, we can start a school in the name of Aishwarya here." MNS workers flared up. Can any one walk into Patna and try to make Lalu the butt of his joke publically?I guess not. Same is the case here.
In Mumbai a lot of pople live illegally, may it be on the streets and other public places or in slums. A lot of them are from UP, Bihar, AP and even Bangladeshis. Of Mumbai's increase in population between 1991-2001 54% was because of migrants. A a friend of mine deftly pet it, the slogan in Bihar must be "Hum do humare do, teesra hua Bambai bhej do!" (The guy pointing this out is a Bihari, but a 4th generation migrant or rather as good a Mumbaikar as I am) Initially slum dwellers who have been living in Mumbai's slums from 1990 were declared legal and were to be given rehabilitation benefits. This threshold was raised to 1995 and then 2000 in order to gain a larger vote bank. 60,000 prostitutes dwell in Kamathipura alone and sex-trade is illegal in India. Streets are lined with rekdis or thelas to such a large extent that they block roads and foot-paths. Most such illegal Sabjiwalas and Falwalas or rather fruit and vegetable vendors are from UP-Bihar. Trains are filled with them as they travel from main markets (where again they have been gaining monopoly) to their self proclaimed hawking zones. When there is a need for 3 we have 30 and they bring along their entire families over a course of time and settle down in Mumbai. The very lane in which my house is was once full of bhaiyas as we call them. Now all these illegal hawkers have been replaced by a locer grocery store owner who now has a legal fruit and vegetable shop. Food Bazar and Subhiksha and Reliance Fresh have all cropped up in their place in my area. Instead of a hundred hawkers, we now have 4 registered vendors in my area. Most food stalls at Juhu Beach are now registered. Not a bad change mind you. However the milk-man and his cattle shed right next to the road (all illegal) behind my house is yet go...
All those hawkers used up Mumbai's resources, but paid no tax. We are the ones who pay taxes and countless such illegal leeches thrive on it at Mumbai's expenses. Moreover Mumbai is not in need of labour anymore. There is plenty of it available now much more than is necessary. Mumbai is saturated. These outsiders as some call them, come stay on the road for a while search for some work to do, any work, and then build a hut or rent it and get their family here into Mumbai. Now the ones who dont have their families here are lured toward sex-workers leading to HIV in them and finally in their family. Similar is the case of Rail employees, from othe states, they come here with their families. Now these entire families add to Mumbai's burden. Instead of this, if local people get jobs, they wont have to bring any additional people into Mumbai. Frankly speeking I can go on and on about this and the moment I stop Jhoola will pick up the task and talk on and on and the moment he is exhausted you might find another Mumbaikar say Vishwa ready to pick up from there. Ask most of us Mumbaikars, we just want to get rid of these excess people or outsiders siphoning Mumbai's resources. Just a fact but the amount of money sent to UP-Bihar from mumbai is really really high, as pointed out by MNS in a rally. Another thing worth pointing out is that, most people who eat paan and finally spit it out, as well as most of the people who sell it are from the north. Beetle leaves are auspicious and all, but they are also the reason for most corners in mumbai being 'red' in colour on account of spitting the paan out. (Not a very strong point I know but I and quiet a few others hate it.) We dont want regionalism or politics we just want our Home to be the way it once was. We just want to save Mumbai...
Lastly, I feel Lalu or Nitish Kumar or Paswan have no right to criticize MNS. Had they acted properly, had they done something for our fellow countrymen living in the states ruled by these netas, today so many North Indians would not have left their homes in search of jobs elsewhere in the country. Even now all they do is criticize others and engage in politics. Not a single one is ready to take the initiative of improving UP and Bihar (worst states according to India Today Oct edition) or creating jobs there. Much can be done here starting right from the grass-root level. North Indians are said to be unwanted in a lot of parts of the country (this weeks Sunday Times) they are frowned upon. Being beaten (Maharashtra) or killed (North-East) why are these politicians not ready to rehabilitate these extra people in their native states. Why is no politician ready to rehabilitate the 60,000 sex-workers in Kamathipura or the people who have settled in Dharavi after 2000. A lot more can be done in UP-Bihar, infact nothing has been done yet at all.
MNS used the wrong means but what they said is true. I want a better Mumbai for sure. However the state of Mumbai is, I love my city...
PS: Pretty long!
Dang and DJ recently re-re-christened me and Jhoola as Baba Saheb Thackarey and Jhoola Thackarey after a long and dicey discussion about this particular issue. I personally feel it has all been blown out of praportions by our good old politicians. Their politically motivated fiery speeches (seat ke liye sala kuch bhi karega) and mirch-masala from the media (TRPs ke liye sala kuch bhi karega) added fuel to the fire (quiet literally). As far as Raj is concerned I dont know whether all this was for the marathi-manoos and the mumbaikars or for the kursi or maybe for both. I dont even support his overtly violent methods. But (theres always a 'but'), I stand by the issues he raised. In a newspaper interview he said 'Mumbai badly needs a Narendra Modi'. Maybe it does, maybe not. But Mumbai really needs help...
Mumbai is my home. I feel city-sick rather than home-sick. Today Mumbai Metropolitan Region (not including navi Mumbai and other areas) has a population of 2,00,00,000+ and thats just the number of people legally settled in the city! The whole state of Gujarat just has a population of 5crores. It houses the largest slum area in whole of Asia (dharavi). At night most foot-paths are used to sleep on and so are parks, stations, bus stops, roads, beaches and I can just go on and on with it. Trains are over crowded, buses are over crowded, roades are over crowded the whole city is fuckin over crowded...
Back to the point anti north-Indians campaign. The railway exam fuss is not something new, the issue was raised in 2003 by Shiv Sena. These exams are conducted for job openings in Railways in Maharashtra and especially Mumbai. Allegations were made saying that although 500 Maharashtrian candidates were selected, the final results on July 21, 2003 declared only ten of them successful. However, 90 per cent of the successful candidates were from Bihar. The High Court also issued a notice to Nitish Kumar and other railway officials regarding this and a further invistigation was to be conducted. Something similar happened on October 19, 2008 only this time MNS took the initiative. No local newspaper in Maharashtra had the advertisement announcing this Railways exam. However some newspapers back in UP and Bihar had the ad. Lalu it is said had announced the job openings in Bihar during some speech. Invistigation regarding this issue too was to be done. On the first working day following the incident uproarous scene ere seen in the national parliament. Numerous members of Parliament condemned the attacks. Anant Geete of the Shiv Sena, tried to give the other side of the story by noting the 42 lakh educated and unemployed youth in Maharashtra. Stating that the Marathis were getting a raw deal in central government jobs such as income tax and the railways, Narayan Rane said it was perplexing that of 54,000, only 54 Marathis were summoned for the railway recruitment exams this year. The railways must give Marathis their legitimate share in employment.
Now some incidents of violence against North Indians were just bogus. As we all know one of the so called killings turned out to be a rail accident as per a cctv recording. Not a big deal as 7-8 people die daily while travelling in the ever-crowded over-crowded local trains. Some other incidens were just cases of marital disputes (a case in Kalyan) or Land Disputes (Mumbai) that were glorified by media and politicians into communal killings. Some I must accept were truly cases of communal killings and riots, I do not support such acts. But then this was just politics.
Now about Big B, I initially thaught it was on Jaya Bacchan's comment about being UPwale and talking in Hindi not Marathi. Thats not the case I got to know later from a local newspaper in Mumbai. Raj just commented on the fact that Big B is helping out UP -his native place- every now and then by featuring in ad campaigns or by opening schools named after Aishwarya, which is not a bad thing. But has he done anything for Mumbai or Maharashtra from where he gets all his money. What has he given to the city which gave him everything? Nothing. To this Jaya ji, the politician retorted, "I heard that Raj Thackeray owns huge properties in Maharashtra, in Mumbai at Kohinoor Mills. If he is willing to donate land, we can start a school in the name of Aishwarya here." MNS workers flared up. Can any one walk into Patna and try to make Lalu the butt of his joke publically?I guess not. Same is the case here.
In Mumbai a lot of pople live illegally, may it be on the streets and other public places or in slums. A lot of them are from UP, Bihar, AP and even Bangladeshis. Of Mumbai's increase in population between 1991-2001 54% was because of migrants. A a friend of mine deftly pet it, the slogan in Bihar must be "Hum do humare do, teesra hua Bambai bhej do!" (The guy pointing this out is a Bihari, but a 4th generation migrant or rather as good a Mumbaikar as I am) Initially slum dwellers who have been living in Mumbai's slums from 1990 were declared legal and were to be given rehabilitation benefits. This threshold was raised to 1995 and then 2000 in order to gain a larger vote bank. 60,000 prostitutes dwell in Kamathipura alone and sex-trade is illegal in India. Streets are lined with rekdis or thelas to such a large extent that they block roads and foot-paths. Most such illegal Sabjiwalas and Falwalas or rather fruit and vegetable vendors are from UP-Bihar. Trains are filled with them as they travel from main markets (where again they have been gaining monopoly) to their self proclaimed hawking zones. When there is a need for 3 we have 30 and they bring along their entire families over a course of time and settle down in Mumbai. The very lane in which my house is was once full of bhaiyas as we call them. Now all these illegal hawkers have been replaced by a locer grocery store owner who now has a legal fruit and vegetable shop. Food Bazar and Subhiksha and Reliance Fresh have all cropped up in their place in my area. Instead of a hundred hawkers, we now have 4 registered vendors in my area. Most food stalls at Juhu Beach are now registered. Not a bad change mind you. However the milk-man and his cattle shed right next to the road (all illegal) behind my house is yet go...
All those hawkers used up Mumbai's resources, but paid no tax. We are the ones who pay taxes and countless such illegal leeches thrive on it at Mumbai's expenses. Moreover Mumbai is not in need of labour anymore. There is plenty of it available now much more than is necessary. Mumbai is saturated. These outsiders as some call them, come stay on the road for a while search for some work to do, any work, and then build a hut or rent it and get their family here into Mumbai. Now the ones who dont have their families here are lured toward sex-workers leading to HIV in them and finally in their family. Similar is the case of Rail employees, from othe states, they come here with their families. Now these entire families add to Mumbai's burden. Instead of this, if local people get jobs, they wont have to bring any additional people into Mumbai. Frankly speeking I can go on and on about this and the moment I stop Jhoola will pick up the task and talk on and on and the moment he is exhausted you might find another Mumbaikar say Vishwa ready to pick up from there. Ask most of us Mumbaikars, we just want to get rid of these excess people or outsiders siphoning Mumbai's resources. Just a fact but the amount of money sent to UP-Bihar from mumbai is really really high, as pointed out by MNS in a rally. Another thing worth pointing out is that, most people who eat paan and finally spit it out, as well as most of the people who sell it are from the north. Beetle leaves are auspicious and all, but they are also the reason for most corners in mumbai being 'red' in colour on account of spitting the paan out. (Not a very strong point I know but I and quiet a few others hate it.) We dont want regionalism or politics we just want our Home to be the way it once was. We just want to save Mumbai...
Lastly, I feel Lalu or Nitish Kumar or Paswan have no right to criticize MNS. Had they acted properly, had they done something for our fellow countrymen living in the states ruled by these netas, today so many North Indians would not have left their homes in search of jobs elsewhere in the country. Even now all they do is criticize others and engage in politics. Not a single one is ready to take the initiative of improving UP and Bihar (worst states according to India Today Oct edition) or creating jobs there. Much can be done here starting right from the grass-root level. North Indians are said to be unwanted in a lot of parts of the country (this weeks Sunday Times) they are frowned upon. Being beaten (Maharashtra) or killed (North-East) why are these politicians not ready to rehabilitate these extra people in their native states. Why is no politician ready to rehabilitate the 60,000 sex-workers in Kamathipura or the people who have settled in Dharavi after 2000. A lot more can be done in UP-Bihar, infact nothing has been done yet at all.
MNS used the wrong means but what they said is true. I want a better Mumbai for sure. However the state of Mumbai is, I love my city...
PS: Pretty long!
