The Hindu : Chauvinist politics

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Tuesday, Apr 29, 2003

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Chauvinist politics

BY CALLING FOR an end to the influx of non-Maharashtrian migrants in Mumbai, the Shiv Sena chief, Bal Thackeray, is attempting to revive the politics of regional identity and sub-nationalism that have been lying dormant in the larger Hindutva project of his party. Although the announcement of 1995 as the cut-off year might seem like a softening of the original `Mumbai-for-Maharashtrians' slogan, Mr. Thackeray is only giving new pragmatic forms to Marathi chauvinism that constitutes the core of the Sena's politics. While the original slogan was aimed at migrants from the South, especially Tamils, the present campaign is directed mostly at people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who have found employment in the business metropolis in the past few years. Indeed, the Sena leader wants pre-1995 non-Marathi settlers in Mumbai to join hands with the natives in the proposed struggle to evict the recent migrants. Apart from this minor difference, necessitated by changed circumstances, there is no real modification of the Sena tactic of whipping up Marathi sentiments against `outsiders.' The cut-off year relates to the efforts to relocate Mumbai slums when the Sena-BJP alliance was in power, and does not hold added significance.

Evidently, Mr. Thackeray is giving a regional, cultural identity twist to the problems of urban concentration that are certainly not unique to Mumbai. True, Mumbai suffers greatly, perhaps more than other Indian cities, from the growth in hutments and slums, but the solution does not lie in formulating the problem in terms of linguistic chauvinism. The Sena chief looks ready to again instigate Maharashtrians against people from other States coming to the metropolis in search of livelihood. There is a clear design of making political capital of the perceived resentment among Maharashtrians at Mumbai losing its Marathi culture and taking on a cosmopolitan character. But, even though the focus of his Marathi chauvinism is Mumbai-centric in the present instance, there is no doubt that Mr. Thackeray intends to move beyond the particular case of the metropolis. His reference to non-Marathis holding ministerial positions in Maharashtra is indicative of his thinking in this regard.

The articulation of the `Me Mumbaikar' programme in the party organ, Saamna, comes after Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, son and nephew respectively of the Sena chief, expressed similar opinions. Some other Sena leaders have actually demanded the imposition of Constitutional curbs on inter-State migration. The anti-migrants campaign thus appears to be part of a deliberate strategy of returning to a Marathi majoritarian agenda without, of course, abandoning any political gains from sticking to Hindutva. Mr. Thackeray himself is against any linking of his latest call with the issue of Hindutva, insisting he is only speaking up for the locals of Mumbai. In some respects, this return to regionalism by Mr. Thackeray is a recognition of the Sena's failure in trying to follow the BJP trajectory of growth using Hindutva at the national level. Apart from commanding the support of a few fringe elements, the Sena made no impact in other parts of the country. Actually, even as Mr. Thackeray unveiled the `Me Mumbaikar' programme, the BJP ruled out an alliance with the Sena outside Maharashtra. For obvious reasons, the BJP cannot back the Marathi chauvinistic demands of the Sena as any restriction on the right of a citizen to move within the country would make a mockery of Indian nationhood. But essentially there is no difference in the approaches of the two parties. Mr. Thackeray might target Tamils and Muslims and Biharis at different points of time, but he will not shift focus from his majoritarian agenda, whether it is Hindutva or a Marathi variant. In this, the Sena is one with the BJP.

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