Horrible ethnic violence was witnessed earlier this month in Mumbai, as activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, a Marathi supremacist group led by Raj Thackeray (right), went terrorizing migrants to Mumbai from other parts of India, particularly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, resulting in at least one death and many injuries. The miscreants also vandalized Amitabh Bachchan’s home.

Due to the large number of perceived opportunities existing for work in Mumbai (which is part of the Indian state of Maharashtra), citizens from other parts of India have moved their in large numbers, for many decades. This is a natural pattern of movement which also exists in other developing countries.

In recent years it has particularly been very poor migrants entering Mumbai who have come from the hugely overpopulated and economically under-developed states of Bihar and UP. They have tended to carry out tough menial work, for lower wages than the local people would usually be prepared to work for.

Migrants have caused resentment amongst “native Maharashtrians” living in Mumbai, who claim that that the immigrants take all the jobs and that Marathi (the regional language) is diluted and not given its due prominence due to the presence of the migrants.

The first articulators and activists of this angst were the Shiv Sena, who initially started off attacking Tamil and Gujarati migrants to Mumbai. Over time however, the Shiv Sena began to move towards a more Hindu ideology, and the “Marathi supremacy” aspect was slightly subdued.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a breakaway offshoot from the Shiv Sena. While the Shiv Sena alternates between Marathi politics and pan-Hindu politics, the breakaway group is more radical in its regional politics and has spat vitriolic hatred against newcomers to Mumbai.

Amitabh Bachchan

Big B is originally from Uttar Pradesh but has been settled in Mumbai for many years, Mumbai being the epicenter of the Indian film industry. Recently he set up a school in his native Uttar Pradesh, and in the past has also contested elections from Uttar Pradesh, when he tried (and failed) to dabble in politics. This led to a vicious outburst from chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Raj Thackeray, against Big B. Thackeray accused him of fleecing Maharashtra for its riches and serving Uttar Pradesh more than Mumbai despite being the latter which had made him rich and famous. This speech led to party activists targeting Big B’s home in their attacks. Ironically Big B has always had a close personal friendship with Raj Thackeray’s uncle, and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

The Legacy of Shivaji Maharaj

The violence shows some of the strain on the unity of the modern Indian state arising from the country’s diversity and inequality of development. It is particularly sad that the people who carried out such attacks claim to represent the legacy of the great Hindu king Shivaji. Both the Shiv Sena (which is names after Shivaji) as well as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena both have Shivaji as their main icon. Shivaji himself was a Maharashtrian, but proclaimed himself as fighting for an all-India Hindu cause (Hindavi swarajya and Hindu padpadshahi) as opposed to a ruler representing a narrow ethnic or linguistic group. He created unity whereas those who claim to be his followers are acting divisively. Shivaji is a hero of all Hindus, and we cannot let his legacy become hijacked by a narrow racist bunch of bigots. True followers of Shivaji would focus and tackle issues of national security rather than attack other Hindus who are just trying their best to earn their daily bread. Thankfully media reports have indicated that the recent violence has not evoked sympathy from the vast majority of Maharashtrians.

Related article: Shiv Sena under the microscope

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