Thackeray warns those in love with ‘Bombay’

“Those clamouring to retain the name of Bombay instead of changing it to Mumbai will be forced to flee,” he warned.

The Sena had targeted a leading newspaper, an elite school and a textile showroom for using Bombay in their name. On Tuesday, it also protested in front of the Bombay Stock Exchange, demanding a change in its name. As many as 24 workers from the party and its campus wing Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Sena were also arrested outside BSE under provisions of the Bombay Police Act for violating prohibitory orders on Tuesday. The move to attack these institutions comes after Saamana editor Sanjay Raut wrote a stinging article, rebuking institutions for continuing to use the word Bombay in their names.

In Wednesday’s editorial, Thackeray said: “What is the harm if the name of Bombay High Court is changed to Mumbai High Court, Bombay Dyeing to Mumbai Dyeing or Bombay Stock Exchange to Mumbai Stock Exchange?” He said, “If Calcutta can be changed to Kolkata, Bangalore to Bengaluru, Trivandrum to Thiruvananthapuram, then what is the problem if the name of Bombay becomes Mumbai?” Besides, he said the Central Government had long back changed Bombay’s name to Mumbai.