Is Mumbai exclusive to Maharashtrians? This should be a no-brainer, but since Raj Thackeray reignited the debate, it's an issue worth exploring, if only to see what turns up.
The timing first. What pressed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena... Read The Article
Hello all, thanks to venkatesh for writing such a nice blog and creating doubts in the minds of people about democracy of our nation and political agendas of parties such as MNS. However, the issue remains untouched about the possible measures one could take to stop the flocks coming from outside states into Mumbai and for that matter 'Maharashtra'. By essence, Mumbai and Maharashtra have always attracted non-maharashtrians for cheap employment and business. The reasons are obvious that Maharashtra is the most industrialized state in India and attracts employment. Now in the democracy, it is difficult not to allow migrants. However, it has created immense disorder in terms of population explosion in the state. Now, we can blame politicians for being corrupt and inactive, but I strongly think that politicians in this part of the country (Maharashtra) are way better than politicians across UP and Bihar. The reason of this migration lies in the fact that UP and Bihar are un-livable places on the earth, with unemployment and violence issues. Maharashtrian by its very nature is a very lenient and lovable human being. Thats the essence of Marathi culture. I think, Raj took this issue at the right time, be it in the sense of his own political gain. But someday, somebody has to indulge in this sensitive matter somehow, though it was unconstitutional. I am proud to be an indian, but I am not able to tolerate my Marathi motherland being destroyed by fellow Indians (Please look into the number of migrants who have created slums in mumbai). Politicians from other states should first look into the progress of their own states before putting strong comments of 'lathis' in this part of the world. The response was spontaneous. Respect the respect Marathis have shown for other cultures over the years. You won't find so many migrants in other states of our country. The reason being betterhood of Maharashtra among north indian states and the ease of language that indians find here.
( Posted: Tuesday , February 12, 2008 at 00:28 )
Shravan
Hello All, It is really sad to see that a good debatable topic has taken a violent turn and has unfolded onto the streets of Mumbai. There has been a lot of televised debate on this. It is interesting to note that most speakers chose to "non-controversially" say that Mumbai (or any other metropolitan city) belongs to Indians and all are Indians first and regional affiliations should come next. The point that is being missed by all the anchors (most of them with an illustrious past) of the debates is: "What is it to be an Indian?" Is it speaking one language having common interests, likes and dislikes and having a common culture? or, respecting the diversity of the nation? I strongly believe it is the latter. The (transferable) nature of government jobs force people (and their children) to travel across the length and breadth of the country. Travel for employment and livelihood is also (and to a much larger extent) "forced" by the un-even development of the country. Those who choose to relocate, should make it a point to try and assimilate into the local culture, language and festivities. It is easy to prove just by taking a few examples of people around you that those who know more languages and have travelled more are more at peace than those who like to stick with their mother tongue in other states and cities. Once you assimilate, there is no question of being called an outsider , you are a proud citizen of that city.
To respond to the quesiton whether one should be forced to learn more languages? the answer is is yes as the benefits are very tangible. The reason why I advocate this is, if it is not forced or encouraged or incentivised, there is no inclination and assimilation is stopped and there is a clear divide. Another dangerous consequence of not forcing the language would be that there will be this clear feeling of "inequality" that non Hindi speakers will be "forced" to learn Hindi but the converse will not be applicable. This feeling is dangerous.
( Posted: Monday , February 11, 2008 at 23:37 )
What makes u say maharashtra cannot do without nort Indians......It can always.....UP and Bhiar needs easy money...lets see if you can dvelop u r state of UP and Bhihar.
( Posted by pooshkar4u on Tuesday , February 12, 2008 at 23:31 )
Aniruddha Sinha
Simple question to all those who are so much devoted to be a Maharastrian before an Indian.Specially Raj Thakre and people with those thinking.Can Maharastra survive without the help of other States,i mean to say can they survive without the Power supply from other states. I heard in an Interview that Railways are recruiting people from Bihar as there ministers are from Bihar,In Narshima Rao ministry Shanker Rao Chauhan was the Home Minister so at that time why people from Bihar was more qualified in UPSC?Even now Shiv Raj Patil is from Maharastra.Ask him to select as per Merrit.How many Maharastian and Biharis?Answer we all know even great Politician of Maharastra. A simple logic which our great politician Thakre family should see all the Centre Govt. employee schemes are organized by Central Government.You need to crack Exams to get into it. Not State reservation. What is the Fault of the people from Bihar who are able to crack there exams successfully in comparision to Maharastrian candidate. It would be better if Maharastrian politician concentrate on increasing the capability of maharastrian student. Atlast can all politician party in Maharastra stops asking for Fund for there party if the Donor is Non Maharastrian?????
Whats the answer? Ask all the non maharastrian Industrialist to take there offices to some other state!!!
( Posted: Monday , February 11, 2008 at 23:00 )
Its nice to know we have so many intelligent fellows in Bihar and UP. My only wish is why don't they develop their own state instead of developing Maharashtra?
This would solve all the problems of Bihar and UP migrants currently in Mumbai. Let us lazy, ever cribbing, dumb ghatis fight amongst ourselves. Please leave us alone.
( Posted by Marathi Manoos on Tuesday , February 12, 2008 at 04:00 )
baine
What a one sided argument. come on wake up and smell the coffee, Cnn ibn has posted all these articles and blogs cause they were not allowed.
Raj thackeray will become a great leader and should have a bright future ahead of him..
( Posted: Monday , February 11, 2008 at 22:02 )
Big kudos to Raj thackeray for an impressive show, come on kick out all th non-marathis and restore what is rightfully ours..
( Posted by nayr on Tuesday , February 12, 2008 at 21:34 )
Ravi Sharma
Is it my fault that i born in some part of India ? doesn't matter it was Mumbai or MP or UP or Bihar or any other states in India. My father was in transferable job so we stayed in several state in India. Now i am moving to several states due to nature of job, so its my fault. or my fault because i am Indian and now suffering what Neheru did so many years back to devide the nation in different states based on language ? Another shoking think i am watching in media (TV/news/papers/blogs) people started using the word "OUTSIDERS"...what hell meaning of it ? are we considering Indians moving to different parts of city as migrants from other countries ? When there is person admitted in hospital and needed blood, why the hell not asking if blood doners is Maharastrin or some some other speaking language ? One side young generation is thinking that new blood in the politics can do some magic to India and make number one in the world. This is what young generation blood is talking..are young generation is really doing great for India ? Is indian politics is safe in young generation hands..who are taking to devide the nation in small small parts based on language again and again....is this people are really eduated people ? Is india economy is growing becoz of different languages ? All IT and Indian scientist are working in Indian language ? Is mumbai is gaining all profit in marathi movie making ? is share bazzar is running on Marathi ? is all IT companies are running on Marathi language ? its never ending series of question where most of cheep politician based on language know the answer VERY WELL.
I just request people from India to KNOW this POLITICIAN and never ever trust and vote them for good shake or progress for India.
They can't think beyound one level ahead at all.
And save the NATION from such bullshit fire.
Thanks Ravi Sharma
( Posted: Monday , February 11, 2008 at 16:11 )
Rangesh
INDIANS are the biggest HYPOCRITES in the world.
1. When they go abroad, they follow all rules, in their own country they are uncouth and ill mannered. 2. They oppose any form of discrimination when they are in USA, Europe, Malaysia etc. BUT, in their own country they do EXACTLY that to their neighbours. 3. They support outsourcing in a big way, when THEY are benefitting. BUT, in their own country they shout 'SONS OF SOIL' and such nonsense, coz they stand to benefit. 4. They refuse to have decent ties with countries that are considered undemocratic. BUT, in their own country they murder their own citizens (1984, 2002) and elect the very leaders that were involved in this butchery.
We are a nation of Hypocrites.
( Posted: Monday , February 11, 2008 at 15:20 )
aambs
All Indians take one oath right from the school that " India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters". If we start fighting with our own brothers and sisters jus because they dont speak our language, then tell me how can we indians move towards a better India. India which has all the resources to become a super power is still a developing nation after 60 years of independence. Every maharshtrian, tamilian, keralite,bengali or kannadiga who go out of india, is not identified with the language they speak, but as Indians. Unity in diversity - that needs to be the strength of Indians. United we stand, divided we fall. The best example for this is the 200 years of British Rule in India territory. I admit that Mumbai has more non- maharashtrian population. But all these people, marathis and non marathis worked together or contributed in some or the other way to make Mumbai as the financial capital of India. If the Ambanis/tata run business only on their states and employ only their localities, then how many people will lose their jobs!!!! We cannot ask them to employ only gujaratis in gujarat, mambaikars in mumbai or tamlians in tamil nadu. So its time to stand up as Indians and realise the goal of India as a super power leaving behind all the differences in language, religion,caste etc. We are Indians and We are together.
( Posted: Monday , February 11, 2008 at 14:57 )
Marathi Manoos
No one should be forced to speak Marathi. Its their loss. At the same time the outsiders should not ask marathis to speak Hindi just because they don't understand the marathi conversation. If they are so curious about what is being said they better learn Marathi. On a different note, if I was posted to any part of the world I would definitely try to understand the local language & culture there. Nothing wrong in it. Nothing to be ashamed of. If you can travel hundreds of miles to a particular state where you are going to earn your bread & butter, there is nothing wrong in making a sincere attempt at understanding the local culture. But I agree it can not be forced.
And last but not the least. I don't think we need to blow this issue out of proportion and start discussing division of India. We Indians don't have that weaker bonds. Each issue needs to be tackled based on its merit. Just like a fight between two brothers over a candy does not mean that India would be divided. This is a much more practical issue that certainly needs attention. No rallies by Amar Singh, lathis by Abu azmi & swords by Raj thackeray would help sort this issue. We all need to work towards sorting this issue by using multi pronged approach.
Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra... Shivaji (not sivaji) Maharaj ki Jai...
( Posted: Monday , February 11, 2008 at 12:09 )
Marathi Manoos
Whatever progress Mumbai has made is because of its people from diff states, walks of life, languages etc. But at the same time one should give due credit to the BMC and Govt. of Maharashtra for providing the right environment for people to prosper. I think the credit must be given to marathi politicians for not turning into likes of Laloos, Mulayams and Mayawatis. These "ghati" politicians have been parties to various scams & made personal gains but at the same time they made sure the state progressed as well. This is what differentiates Maharashtra from states like UP and Bihar.
I don't entirely support Thackeray's statements and actions. But if we have to take something positive out of this whole episode then I think we sincerely need to debate on developing other cities/states especially UP and Bihar. Thats the only long term solution to this problem. Instead of focussing on this topic, everyone including majority of media personnel are discussing "how can marathi janata suddenly kick all non marathis out of the state?". Believe me no one wants this. Even if someone feels like doing this, it is easier said than done.
One thing that Raj thackeray has correctly pointed out is that the constant influx of migrants has resulted in crumbling infrastructure of Mumbai. Stopping this influx is not the solution, but managing this influx certainly is. This is common sense, e.g. how many people can stand on a 10X10 meter land. There obviously will be some limit. Now we need to come up with innovative ideas to find a solution to this situation.
Onto Amitabh Bachchan. He will always be in the limelight for all the wrong reasons as long as he is with his chotte bhayya. I guess Amitabh is to be blamed for this. The man of his stature need not get restricted to only UP and that too Samajwadi Party. He is too big a personality and should use his image for benefit of the entire country as such.
To be continued...
( Posted: Monday , February 11, 2008 at 12:07 )
I have strong opinion against people with origin of other states being called "migrants". Is not Mumbai a part of India?
Secondly, I understand that Mumbai currently has a population more than it can bear. But how is that a fault with the people who have migrated there? They have not got an opportunity in their home state and that's why they have gone there.
Lastly, forceing anybody to learn and speak marathi or for that matter any other language is ridiculous. Most of the time people learn the language out of necessity. If a person moves to UK/US they will learn English as they won't be able to make communication. If a person goes to the interior of Maharastra for making his livelihood where nobody understands or speak hindi or any other language he will learn it or leave the place. However, in Mumbai if one person can survive in his daily life without speaking Hindi there is no right for amybody to force Marathi for him.
I can give example of mine. I arrived Mumbai from West Bengal and that time I could not speak any single sentence of Hindi. However, I have learnt it over the years and survived. In last 5 years I have worked in different states of India and could survive without speaking the state language.
Mr. Raj Thakarcey is making this issue for his vote bank. These sort of guys should be punished ASAP. I am sure the normal Mumbaikars do not beleive in his philosophy.
( Posted by Yashajit Saha on Tuesday , February 12, 2008 at 19:03 )
shashi
what ever may be the reason but RT is no one to stop people from living and earning their breads in any parts of the country.Our basic human rights say that" All the citizen of india has rights to go and live in any parts of the country". RT is a very narrow minded and selfish person or may be he is just making his vote bank.Just think about the marathis who are outside of Maharashtra.if people start treating them in the same way what will happen.We all know nothing will happens to this so calles LEADERS but the ultimate sufferer will be the poor helpless people. They will still roam aroung freely in their AC cars but these helpless people will struggle to meet their two ends. I fell pity of those poor people who suffered in his entire political drama.I also have sympathy for those people who easily get lured by these so called national leaders who tries to divide the country.
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