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Journalism of Courage
Last month, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde, during a media interaction, issued a veiled warning to his detractors, asking them not to take him lightly. “Mi ek samanya karyakarta ahe. Matra me Balasaheb yancha karyakarta ahe… Mala halkyat gheu naka (I am an ordinary worker. But I am Balasaheb Thackeray’s worker… Don’t take me lightly,” he said in Marathi.
The Shiv Sena is now embroiled in a row with stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra with Sena workers on Sunday night ransacking the Habitat studio in Mumbai’s Khar, where the latter recorded a show making his “gaddar” (traitor) jibe at Shinde.
While the Mumbai police has booked Kamra on the Sena’s complaint, Kamra has remained defiant, even as Shinde asserted that there should be limits to freedom of speech.
In state political circles the Sena workers’ move to go on the rampage was perceived as a signal of Shinde’s bid to reassert his leadership by resorting to the “old Shiv Sena template”.
The term “gaddar” which provoked the Shinde Sena workers’s vandalism of the Mumbai studio has been frequently used against Shinde by the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) parties, especially his arch rival Shiv Sena (UBT), at multiple forums – from the state Assembly and Legislative Council to public rallies. This has been witnessed since June 2022, when Shinde split the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena and crossed over to the NDA with his MLAs to form their government under his chief ministership.
The question is, why the Shinde Sena chose to react differently this time.
According to sources in the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti coalition, the Shiv Sena’s belligerent reaction to Kamra’s barb is part of the party’s attempt to “reaffirm” Shinde’s leadership ahead of the elections in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other local bodies in the state later this year.
In the high-stakes battle for the BMC, which has been ruled by the undivided Sena for last three decades, Shinde is looking to turn it into a “fight” between his party and the Uddhav Sena in order to strengthen his position at the centrestage of state politics, sources said.
Significantly, Shinde had gone into a sulk after the Mahayuti stormed back to power in the Assembly polls last November, after the BJP – which bagged 132 seats as compared to the Shiv Sena’s 57 and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s 41 – decided to replace him with its senior leader Devendra Fadnavis as the CM. Shinde was forced to accept the Deputy CM’s position, which was seen in the Sena circles as a setback to his leadership.
“Upstaged by Fadnavis, Shinde now seems to be resorting to the Sena’s old-style aggressive street politics,” sources said.
“If anybody makes derogatory remarks against our leader we cannot be a silent spectator. Our activists are bound to react in their own style,” party MP Naresh Mhaske said. A common refrain in the Sena camp is, ” Why should anybody cast aspersions on a party leader. He is also Maharashtra Deputy CM.”
Even CM Fadnavis rose in the Shinde Sena’s defence, saying “We respect freedom and Constitution. In name of satire nobody should cross their limits. Speaking lies and defaming individuals cannot be tolerated.”
Bal Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena in June 1966 to champion the cause of the son of soil or Marathi Manoos, declaring that it would be mainly dedicated to social work rather than politics. It went on to get the tag of a militant Hindu organisation over the decades, with its journey marked with several incidents of violence, intimidation, and moral policing – from disrupting India-Pakistan matches to protesting against Valentine’s Day – to push its agenda.
In October 1991, a group of Shiv Sainiks dug up the cricket pitch at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium to protest an India-Pakistan match. It led to the series being called off. Similarly, in January 1999, the Sena workers dug up Ferozeshah Stadium in New Delhi to scuttle another India-Pakistan series, which however took place.
On February 14, 2000, the Sena activists allegedly attacked some private celebrations in Mumbai and intimidated young boys and girls who were celebrating Valentine’s Day.
Several Hindi and Marathi TV channels had also been targeted by the Sainiks for their criticism of Bal Thackeray.
Thackeray’s son Uddhav, who took charge of the Sena following his demise in 2012, is not known as an aggressive leader, with the party adopting a softer approach during his tenure.
However, in 2015, the concert of Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali was cancelled following a Sena threat.
In 2020, actor Kangana Ranaut, the current BJP MP, drew fire from the Sena – which was then leading the MVA government headed by Uddhav – for castigating the government for “mishandling” the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. In retaliation, the then Sena-ruled BMC demolished a portion of her house in Mumbai.
