Balasaheb Thackeray - Ek tha Tiger

Today on 17th November 2012, Shivsena chief Balasaheb Thackeray (or Thakre) passed away in Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra, the city which he loved and cared for. I am sure there will be mixed reactions from various sections of society, media as well as other regions of India about this news. This news has great significance for people from Maharashtra because he was one leader from Maharashtra who focused only on Maharashtra and its people. I guess he was a unique political leader who never even traveled outside Maharashtra for any reason. Just like a tiger who never left his den. People from other states may not understand the importance of his personality because they view him from a totally different angle. One may or may not agree with his ways or policies, may hate or love him but one thing is sure one can not ignore him.

His personality and movement which he started for Marathi manoos (which brought him into the limelight), and his speeches had a great influence on the people of Maharashtra. He made his quest to fight for problems of 'Marathi manoos' and that's what made him popular among the masses. One can question his methods or even criticize him for some of his actions but he totally believed in his philosophy and was razor focused on his goal. He made his own place in state politics without any godfather. I first heard his speech when I was still a schoolboy, never related to them but understood that he was a really good orator with a very good grip on the audience. His style and way of delivering his speech were unique and people loved it. Even the media used to wait eagerly for his speech which he used to deliver at Shivsena gathering on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami every year.

Maharashtra and especially Mumbai was facing an unprecedented load of immigrants from other parts of India when Balasaheb entered politics. He started his political career with his movement against immigrants, it was about the dominance of the immigrants from other states in Mumbai over locals. National media projected him as one of the most divisive figures in regional politics. Indeed. he was, but he also raised some important issues that mattered to the locals. 

Painting him as a political person playing only divisive politics or preaching intolerance is an incomplete painting. He was much more than this. In Indian politics, every political party caters to its own vote bank and he did the same to survive in this game. He played by the same rules that other parties play. He raised some valid questions like what locals should do when immigrants reject and insult their local culture, and what to do when they don't even learn the local language but rather try to impose their own and make fun of local languages and people? I agree that it's their choice to learn or not to learn any language but to mock the local culture is not the right thing to do and that's where he came into the picture. The locals found their voice in him. 

I am not trying to justify his political career or all of his activities here but trying to explain Balasaheb from my own point of view. I disagreed with his views on some issues and supported him only on some issues. That's the way I look at every person or situation, there will be always good and bad things, I like to take all that is good for me and leave the rest. I never voted for Shivsena in any national election but I always favored their candidates in local elections as long as I was in Pune because they took an active interest in our day-to-day problems and they were one of us. One can definitely analyze and criticize his political career and show many flaws in his political philosophy but despite all these things, the truth is that he attracted a big fan following, and developed a regional party that has been controlling the Mumbai municipal corporation for the last 15 years or so. His party along with BJP was the only party that ruled a full term (5 years) in Maharashtra which is continuously ruled by INC (Indian National Congress) and these are not small achievements.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)