Uncle, nephew, people

It is necessary to keep this psychological canvas in mind to understand why the phenomenally large rally that Raj addressed in Mumbai on May 3 became not only the talk of the town, but also grabbed the country8217;s attention. Raj was careful in his speech. He categorically and repeatedly said that he was not against Bengalis, Punjabis, Gujaratis and others but only the Hindi-speaking communities, and that too because they were trying to usurp the political power of the metropolis and Maharashtra. He was smart and strategic enough to underline that his only aim was to protect the cultural identity of Maharashtra, and that he would not allow the Marathi language to be corrupted.

However, the fact of the matter is that the language is already corrupted beyond redemption by the Marathi middle class, which sends its children to English medium schools, and by the private Marathi TV channels. Even SS and MNS activists send their children to English medium schools. The language they speak is atrocious, to put it mildly. Indeed, neither the Shiv Sena, in its 42 years of active socio-political life and five-year rule, nor its unrecognised heir, the MNS, ever came up with a concrete programme to promote Marathi language and culture.

There are no Marathi art galleries, no Marathi theatres or bookshop chains, no Marathi restaurants, no Marathi museums, no Marathi clubs. No Marathi private channel can claim exclusive Marathi ownership. Almost no Marathi marriage has a quintessentially Marathi menu which is quite varied and delicious and the lingua franca of the Marathi elite is English. The so-called Marathi pride is therefore a manifestation of self-generated cultural isolation in a rapidly globalising world. It also reflects the inferiority complex of the vast lower-middle class urban and rural, which has not managed to be upwardly mobile. Of course, why Shobhaa De should feel nervous is a mystery, given her cosmopolitan background.

The process of liberalisation and globalisation has led to a new class divide between the Marathi people who can find a place in the new economy and those who are denied entry into it. That is where the false fascination for English comes from. Nobody denies the role of the English language for its global status or capacity to facilitate upward mobility. But it was not necessary to undermine Marathi in promoting English, which is what the Marathi middle class did. Today, there are two broad 8220;classes8221; of the Marathi urban community, one proficient in English and the other 8220;trapped8221; in the Marathi language milieu. In the emerging job market, the Marathi from the lower-middle class cannot compete, so he remains unemployed or gets relatively low-paying jobs. His frustration runs deep, he needs someone to blame. He cannot do the 8220;lowly8221; jobs that the poor Hindi-speaking bhayya does, such as driving taxis, selling bhelpuri, ironing, waiting tables and so on. He cannot move upward nor can he do the lowly jobs. It is this fellow of the lumpen class that joined the ranks of the Shiv Sena, which later left him in the lurch. He saw a new hope in Raj Thackeray. It is people like him who throng to MNS meetings.

All political parties in Maharashtra, including the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar, get their activists from this same lumpen class. Indeed this class migrates from the SS to NCP to MNS or to the RPI. Since this vast vote bank has no direction, the MNS also cannot have real direction, and it becomes a loose cannon. The government of Maharashtra cannot act against Raj, because the Congress and the NCP then will be seen as opposing this Marathi youth, which they cannot electorally afford. Moreover, this neo-lumpen youth is kith and kin of the new well-off middle class, the accidental beneficiary of the new economy. As a result, there is disequilibrium within the upper-middle class too, which explains its fascination with Raj. The Raj phenomenon has generated a support base across the class and rural-urban divide. He has also cleverly kept himself away from rhetoric that can legally trap him.

He knows that his uncle has got away with murder, almost literally. Raj has refrained from attacking Muslims. His uncle, Balasaheb Thackeray, on the other hand has used abusive and violent language against Muslims, often loudly hinting that they are anti-nationals. Recently, at a function organised for a launch of his grandson8217;s musical CD Uddhav8217;s son Aditya, Balasaheb addressed the gathering by saying 8220;my patriotic Hindu brothers and sisters8221;, ignoring the sentiments of the Muslim artists in the crowd. Amitabh Bachchan was present but did not object. Incidentally, Raj began to attack Amitabh after that function, which cannot be a coincidence. The Bachchan family has thrown its prestige behind Balasaheb and Uddhav. It was inevitable that Raj attacked Amitabh, for easy publicity and notoriety. He also attacked Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh8217;s proteacute;geacute; in Mumbai, Abu Azmi, which effectively put Raj on the national media map.

The government of Maharashtra knows that Balasaheb Thackeray has used far more provocative language, incited communal passions, openly advocated violence and even praised the 8220;bravery8221; of the Shivsainiks who participated in arson and murder. So far Raj has not degenerated to that level. If the state government decides to take action against Raj, it will have to explain why it was so soft all these years on his uncle and his cousin. Moreover, the state government knows that even its ministers resort to Marathi chauvinism to get votes or to split the SS and MNS votes. This is election season and Raj knows that the established leadership of all parties is afraid of losing the support of the 8220;locals8221;. There will be great clamour for action against Raj, but as the home minister has said, he is 8220;examining the case and studying his speech8221;. That 8220;study and the examination8221; won8217;t be ending anytime soon.

The writer is editor, 8216;Loksatta8217; kumar.ketkarexpressindia.com