BALASAHEB THACKERAY

Finally it is over: all the tension and the drama has come to an end with Mr Thackeray back home, smiling triumphantly. But there are questions and questions.

What would happen if Thackeray was to be punished for his inflammatory speeches? Mumbai would have seen violence of an unprecedented nature. A lot of innocent Hindus and Muslims, at the wrong place at the wrong time, would have perished. And the signal would have gone out once again that those who had accused Mr Thackeray of religious bigotry etc would have felt vindicated. And the Shiv Sena would have received a setback. Perhaps the cause of Hindutva would have suffered. Perhaps not.

Every action can cause an equal and opposite reaction. Mr Thackeray is the natural consequence of the Congress Party's vote-bank politics of pampering the minorities. To blame Thackeray alone would be to blame the hangman for killing the murderer. So why should the Muslims suffer because of the Congress Party's political tactics? The answer is not hard to find: since they benefited from the largesse, they rewarded the Congress. They permitted themselves to be part of the problem and not part of the solution. But they were concerned with protecting their interests, so what if the majority felt irritated? They could see the storm clouds gathering but instead of running for cover, they decided to take on the storm! They approached the Congress for more benefits, disregarding the part they were playing in the drama that was to unfold. The result was the birth of a virulent, strongly patriotic party that believed in brute strength if all else failed.

The Shiv Sena.

The Shiv Sena(SS) functioned a lot like the SS of Hitler. In fact Mr Thackeray has openly expressed his admiration for Adolf Hitler. They terrorised the South Indians and the Gujeratis first. They attempted to drive them away from Mumbai, but failed largely because the party comprised of Marathi speaking unemployed and unemployable young people. While the Gujeratis had industries and businesses, hospitals and highly reputed doctors all over Mumbai, the South Indians had distinguished themselves by their excellent work ethic and high qualifications, and non-interfering way of life; as a result both communities that the SS had targetted were hard-working, constructive, productive people, occupying key positions in Mumbai. The move was doomed to failure. But that did not deter Mr Thackeray.

But had the South Indians and Gujeratis done something to upset the SS? Yes, they definitely had, and at least some of the blame must rest on their shoulders. They refused to learn Marathi, they had a kind of contempt for the local Maharashrian. This was uncultured behaviour because Maharashtra had been big-hearted enough to allow all communities to live here without discrimination. In fact, Bombay was the first truly cosmopolitan city in India, and that was thanks to the largesse of the Maharashrtrians. But some of the blame must also be shared with the local population.

The Maharashtrian, even today, though decreasingly so, has a poor work ethic. His desire for holidays and for bunking are to be seen to be believed. He tries his best to get a job that will permit him the maximum free days so he can loiter about and therefore earnestly seeks jobs at places such as the LIC or the Post Office etc. While it may be wonderful to have to work 175 days in 365, the fact remains that such jobs have no growth prospects, and with family responsibilities to fulfil, the head of the family often finds that his South Indian neighbour has a car and a washing machine, while he still struggles to pay the telephone bill at home. The situation is dynamite: the situation sought an enemy that could be targetted. The Muslims. Of course, let me hasten to add, that there are always lazy Kannadigas, Tamils etc, and there are efficient and inventive Marathas, but here it is the numbers one is talking about and not the exceptions.

Bal Thackeray, like Houdini, will escape the clutches of the law, so long as the nation is terrified of arresting him, a loophole is as good as a miss which, as we know, is as good as a mile. And yet, with a hand on my heart, I cannot say that I was not relieved when he was released.

The Congress is now in the political wilderness of Indian. With no real leader to talk about( the last excellent man in the Congress, Rajesh Pilot, died recently), and with a woodenly smiling housewife as its leader, it has nowhere to go but down. The danger to the nation from pseudo-secularists has passed. And yet there is a need for Bal Thackeray while there are Masood Azhars and Dawood Ibrahims plotting to destroy India.

Tough times need tough leaders; we cannot talk treaties with people for whom violence is a way fo life. And although we may not like a leader such as Bal Thackeray, do we seriously think that a diplomatic approach ALONE will bring the terrorists to their knees?