Raj Thackeray’s hostility towards migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh might have drawn comparisons with his estranged uncle Bal Thackeray’s opposition to Tamilians in the Sixties, but the new poster boy for Marathi pride is seeking to bridge that distance between Maharashtrian and Tamilians in Mumbai and forge what could be a beneficial political alliance.Raj’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) joined hands with the newly formed Marathi-Tamil Ekta Sangam this month. The alliance is the coming together of two “similar cultures” which respect each other, says V.P. Selvan, a longtime Mumbai resident of Tamil origin and founder of the Sangam.The organisation is now a wing of the MNS and its members are automatically enrolled into the MNS, said Selvan, 55, who works in the electrical department of Mumbai airport and is also an employees’ union leader.Formed less than two months ago, the group already has 2,000 members and hopes to see that grow to 10,000 in a few months and go beyond Mumbai to Nashik, Pune and Nagpur as well. The members will seek support for the MNS campaigns, participate in its rallies and programmes and extend help to all its political activities.The idea to form the Marathi-Tamil Ekta Sangam was born after Selvan met Raj at an airport function in early April. The two struck a rapport—Raj apparently was impressed by Selvan, who also writes poetry and prose in Tamil. “Although the memories of the ‘60s are still alive, this is a new start since Raj himself extended a hand of friendship,” said Selvan. “With so many similarities between the two cultures, I thought it was a good idea to respond to his offer of friendship.”The links between Maharashtrians and Tamilians go back a long way—the first Tamilian settlers came to Kolhapur as far back as in 1430, says Selvan, adding that there were many cultural and ethnic similarities between them. Born in Pollachi in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district, Selvan moved to Mumbai in 1977 after marrying a Tamilian girl born and raised in Mumbai.Political observers say that although Maharashtrians and Tamilians have lived together peacefully after the Shiv Sena triggered conflict in the 1960s, the two communities had not cozied up to each other politically.Selvan is rather candid about the political significance of his group’s alliance with MNS. “There are 15 lakh Tamilians living in Mumbai and therefore our relationship with MNS will be politically beneficial,” he says, adding that he has found support from his community and even got congratulatory calls from leaders in Tamil Nadu.The MNS leaders have reciprocated the gesture. “Anyone who respects our culture and is willing to adopt it can join our party,” said MNS spokesman Nitin Sardesai. “They believed in our ideology and were impressed by it so they are most welcome,” he said, adding that the MNS was not against any particular region but was against those who “do not respect local culture and do not give back to the land”.
