Balasaheb Thackeray was a tiger. He was a charismatic personality and no one can deny that. He and his ideology mattered to so many people was exhibited by the sea of humanity that flocked Shivaji park to see their leader one last time. People who came were not only his followers but also people who criticized him or did not agree with him.
Let me first and foremost say ... If you can ... try and keep the personality aside from his political ideology.
And as was expected, his death triggered the hitherto dormant topics of who will take over his position, what will happen to the MNS and SS? Will they come together? and so on .. I am not gonna waste time on that and neither am I qualified enough to do so. Having said that, I also see people saying .. I don't care about him. He did nothing good. Who is he to oppose outsiders coming to Mumbai? Why did he have such a hard stance against the minorities?
Let me begin by asking you a question ... When your parents or grandparents tell you about how Kashmir was a heavenly abode and how it was inhabited by learned Kashmiri Pandits who were driven out of their own land .. Did you not ask why? Whats wrong if Balasaheb asked the same question at a gathering of 10k people?
Mumbai is the favorite city for terrorists. No other city in this country has probably seen more organised terror attacks on it by self styled Jihadi outfits. What is wrong if Balasaheb condemned such acts of cowardice and called on the minorities in the country to not be a part and/or aide such outfits? Remember when a bullet is fired from a terrorist's gun ... it does not check if the target is a Hindu or otherwise.
You talk of cricket diplomacy. Please go and ask the wives/mothers of the soldiers who died during the Kargil war or other cases of insurgency from across the border. Ask them if it is fine for our country to play cricket to establish Peace with them. If they agree to it, please feel free to criticize Mr. Thackeray.
Yes he had a hard stance against the Gujratis, South Indians and others. But please do remember Varadrajan Mudaliar was one of the many smuggler's of South Indian origin who operated out of Mumbai. And all those gujju's who took pride in being the effluent class and termed the localites as "Ghati's" is fair eh?
So going by the same logic ... all people who oppose Tamilian influence in Bangalore or object to the release of the Cauvery waters to TN should be termed as hardliners, right?
Is it okay if I call the office administrative assistant in Chennai, who refused to acknowledge me as a person because I could not speak Tamil properly an extremist?
You say, he did all this to create a vote bank. If standing up for your own people is termed as vote-bank politics then I wonder what would you term the Kokrajahar riots as being a part of?
I agree that his party's volunteers have been rash and have brought the city to a standstill on many an occasion. No one is above the law of the land. Go ahead and book them.
I am not trying to defend Balasaheb's ideology nor am I trashing it. All I am saying is being judgmental about some one is very easy. Lets not get lost in doing that again.
At the end of it, I leave it open to you to accept this or reject it.
