Rahul Gandhi, the heir of India’s most influential political family, is currently facing flak for his lecture at Cambridge. Well, he is more famous for something else, and that is blending all that the Gandhi family gained into the mud. With Rahul Gandhi at the helm of affairs, Congress could never sail through any of the electoral battles.
Wait, why am I talking about him? Just to let you know that he is not alone, and there is a reason why everything should not be served to the younger generation via wills, which means a golden platter. There is a phrase therefore in India, पूत सपूत तो का धन संचय पूत कपूत तो का धन संचय, which translates to, ‘One does not need to hoard or save assets for the son, as if the son is good enough, he will earn for himself, and if he is bad, he will lose the saved one too.’
How did it all begin?
No one would have ever thought that Bal Keshav Thackeray, born on January 23, 1926, into a normal Marathi family to Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, would change the political landscape of the country, especially Maharashtra. Keshav Thackeray was a leading figure of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement that fought for the creation of a separate linguistic state for Marathi-speaking people. Bal Thackeray moved ahead of this; he not only emphasised son of the soil politics but also helmed the politics of Hindutva, when it was not that common.
Also read: After Election Commission, Uddhav mounts attack on Governor
Being a cartoonist, he had launched a campaign against the growing influence of non-Marathis in Mumbai. He did this through his political weekly, Marmik. For the people of Maharashtra, it was like getting a leader who spoke for them for the first time. The success of the same inspired him to launch his own party, Shiv Sena, in June 1966. The cause taken up by the party was to fight for ‘Marathi Manoos,” which are the people of Maharashtra.
The leader who mainstreamed Hindutva politics
The popularity of his party touched new heights in the following 10 years. With the BJP in alliance, the party touched new heights of success when it managed to grab the power in the state in the 1995 assembly elections in Maharashtra. Of the 288 Assembly seats, the Shiv Sena won 73, while the BJP emerged victorious with 65. Manohar Joshi became the first Shiv Sainik CM of the state. Though Thackeray had undoubtedly helped secure victory for the party in elections with his strategies, he personally decided to stay out of the political limelight.
Balasaheb Thackery was a revered nationalist and a staunch supporter of Hindutva, carrying forward the principles of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Many of his decisions stand in testament to the same, be it reserving seats for the children of Kashmiri Pandits, banning India-Pakistan matches, or claiming responsibility for the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Few of you must know that Balasaheb Thackeray was banned from voting and contesting elections for a period of six years after he was found guilty of demanding votes in the name of religion. However, the same cannot be said for his heir, Uddhav Thackeray.
Also read: It’s official! Uddhav Thackeray is not the heir of Balsaheb Thackeray
How has Uddhav Thackeray secularised Shiv Sena?
While Balasaheb stayed away from the political limelight, Uddhav Thackeray jumped on the opportunity, and unlike Balasaheb, he had sky-touching political aspirations. Balasaheb lived life lavishly as a kingmaker while having all the threads of Shiv Sena in his hands.
But his son, Uddhav Thackeray, broke off the alliance with the oldest alliance partner, the BJP, for the CM chair. And then began the unholy game of secularising Shiv Sena, with Congress and the NCP being the partners in crime. With the support of these ‘secular parties,” Uddhav Thackeray has committed some unforgivable crimes against Hinduism.
Hindus have faced a cultural genocide at the hands of Islamic invaders. This is a fact known and accepted by all, leaving Uddhav Thackeray. Regarding the Gyanvapi issue, Uddhav Thackeray had asked about the need to find Shivlings beneath mosques.
He said, “Our worry is Shivling lying beneath which mosque—what is under the Taj Mahal? What is under the Gyanvapi Masjid?” Here I ask you: if you know that a mandir has been dismantled to erect any other structure, wouldn’t you want to go back to what was original? Further, isn’t Uddhav Thackeray’s question about the need to find Shivlings denying the centuries-long cultural genocide carried out against Hindus?
Not only this, but during the time of the Nupur Sharma fiasco, Uddhav Thackeray said that India was brought to its knees and was forced to apologise by the Gulf nations. Probably he was happy about the entire controversy, or maybe he had to abide by the narrative of ‘blasphemy against minorities’ to please his alliance partners.
Uddhav had taken the same anti-Hindu route during the Azan-Hanuman Chalisa controversy as well. On one side, Raj Thackeray had left no stone unturned in reminding Uddhav of Balasaheb’s Hindutva legacy, while Uddhav Thackeray had slapped sedition charges on those trying to recite Hanuman Chalisa in front of Matoshree.
Also read: It’s official! Uddhav Thackeray is not the heir of Balsaheb Thackeray
Uddhav Thackeray loses party and symbols
Following his anti-Hindu steps while being in the government, the shiv sainiks believed that the legacy of Balasaheb would be lost. It was then that Eknath Shinde, one of the foot soldiers of Balasaheb Thackeray, decided to protest and take over the reins of the party.
He was successful, and he is today the chief minister of the state and the legal heir of Shiv Sena, as per the decision of the Election Commission of India. In one of his letters, Shidne had revealed the rot that Shiv Sena had become under Uddhav Thackeray, claiming that he had stopped party workers from visiting Ayodhya.
Uddhav Thackeray severed last ties with Balasaheb through his gomutra remark
In his recent attack on the BJP, it seems that Uddhav Thackeray has announced that he has nothing to do with the politics and ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray. Uddhav Thackeray is currently irked by the election commission’s decision to hand over the party’s name and bow and arrow symbol to the faction led by Maharashtra CM Eknath Shidne. He has even called the commission the “Chuna Lagao commission”. Irked by the same, he has severed his last ties with Balasaheb Thackeray and his politics.
On March 5, during a meeting held at Khed village in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray said, “Did our country get freedom by sprinkling cow urine? Did it happen that cow urine was sprinkled and we got freedom? It was not so. The freedom fighters had made sacrifices, and then we got freedom.”
Also read: Here is why Uddhav lost his father’s legacy to Eknath Shinde
While Uddhav Thackeray might not know that cow urine, or goumutra, is revered as a pure liquid in the practises of Hindu Dharma and is used for sacred purposes, Hurling abuse at the sacred things of the Hindu Dharma won’t get him his party back, which he has lost to his anti-Hindu stances.
Nothing more is left to be said and done after these remarks of Uddhav Thackeray, and does he deserve the party formed by the blood and sweat of hundreds of thousands of Shiv Sainiks, who walked on the ideals of unapologetic Hindutva leader Balasaheb Thackeray? Well, let’s leave that for the people of Maharashtra to decide.
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