Sanjay Raut, recently reacted to a scuffle between workers of BJP and Shiv Sena, exposing the true character of his party in the process. “No one needs to give us a certificate on being gundas, we are certified,” the senior Sena leader told the reporters. Then he explained, saying, “When it comes to Marathi pride and Hindutva, we are certified goondas,” pointing out that the party office was a symbol of the state and its people.
Previously Sanjay Raut asked for an explanation from Prime Minister Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for the allegations of a scam in the land purchase by Ram Mandir Trust.
“Will Shivsainiks sit quietly if someone comes to attack the Sena Bhavan? They should understand that the Shiv Sena has written in Saamna and said that an investigation is required following the allegations about the Ram Mandir land purchase deal, as it is a matter of faith … and if someone tries to defame the Ram Mandir Trust through allegations, then action should be taken against them. What’s wrong in this?” he said.
Since its formation, Shiv Sena has had a very strong gundagiri element at the core of the party’s ideology. From harassing migrants, who they call ‘outsiders’, to damaging their property and beating them up, the lower ranks of the party are allegedly called goons by many.
Last year in December, a common man, Hiramani Tiwari was thrashed and had his head allegedly tonsured by ‘Shiv Sainiks’ for an anti-Uddhav post on Facebook. He had, on December 19th, posted his opinion about Uddhav Thackeray’s statement comparing police action on Jamia students to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Upon receiving threats from various quarters, he had subsequently deleted the post.
Certain extremely loyal Shiv Sainiks, however, showed up at the residence of Tiwari with 25-30 men and called him out of his house. This mob was allegedly led by Sena leaders Samadhan Jukdeo and one Prakash Hasbe. In videos doing the rounds on Twitter, the two goons are seen slapping and thrashing Tiwari brutally, to the extent that the man’s medical report states that there is severe damage to his eardrum. The Sena functionaries then went on to threaten Tiwari with dire consequences if such comments were again seen being made against Uddhav Thackeray or Shiv Sena. They also claimed that Uddhav Thackeray is their “God”.
A Mumbai man, Hiramani Tiwari was thrashed recently by Shiv Sena supporters
He had criticised Uddhav Thackerays comparision of the police action in Jamia Protests to Jallianwala Baug massacre. #ShivSena #UddhavThackeray #HiramaniTiwari pic.twitter.com/C4hT5RQiZs
— The-Pulse (@ThePulseIndia) December 24, 2019
They then go on to malign Tiwari and berate him for being a person from North India and Delhi and yet commenting on Uddhav Thackeray. They also proudly state on camera how they have taught him a ‘lesson’ and shaved his head for berating Uddhav Thackeray.
A few days after the aforementioned incident, Shiv Sena activists allegedly burned Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa’s effigy and stopped the screening of a Kannada film in Kolhapur.
Over the years, Shiv Sena has allegedly emerged as the party which reportedly promotes hooliganism under the garb of being the only party, which protects the ‘Marathi Manoos’. The reports of harassment of locals by Shiv Sena goons is so common in Mumbai that local newspapers have even stopped reporting on this issue.
The recent turn of events in Maharashtra is reminiscent of the heydays of Raj Thackeray and his alleged goons as they often resorted to violence against North Indians under the garb of the notion ‘Maharashtra is only for Marathis.’ It seems that violence and language chauvinism is back in Maharashtra with Shiv Sena in power. And, Sanjay Raut is not ashamed but proud of this fact.