Violent History: MNS' "change Mumbai" timeline

HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: From attacking north Indian taxi drivers to threatening school authorities to the latest signboard issue the MNS has done a lot in Maharashtra this year.

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Mumbai: Since March of this year, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has been in the spotlight. From attacking north Indian taxi drivers to threatening school authorities to the latest signboard issue the MNS has done a lot in Maharashtra this year.

Blue, saffron and green against a white background, these are the colours of the MNS’s flag. Blue is for dalits, saffron for Hindus, green for Muslims and white for peace. It was with this secular ideology that Raj Thackeray launched his party in March 2006. But the ideology failed, and the party was forced to make a strategic course correction.

The new face of the MNS is bold, brazen and far more radical. Even hijacking the Shiv Sena's own agenda the 'Marathi' issue.in March this year, the party made its presence felt with its violent stance against north Indians, accusing them of taking jobs away from Maharashtrians. Taxi-drivers were its prime target.

The highly-publicised arrest of Raj Thackeray only served to embolden the party. Amitabh Bachchan, originally from Uttar Pradesh, was attacked for not contributing enough to Maharashtra.

Initially, the MNS demanded that Marathi should be made compulsory in the schools and now the party has launched its latest salvo that all shop signboards should be in Marathi. The MNS is fast taking up the Shiv Sena's mantle of being the city's rabble-rouser.