Raj Thakeray cocks a snook.
Raj Thakeray knows how the system works or rather does not work. It is not for nothing that he has been uder study to Bal Thakeray, his uncle for many years. He has learnt a few tricks.
The fact after inciting violence he could coolly move around the town and even attend a wedding ceremony of the daughter of the Police commissioner is a clear indication of what things are on the ground in Maharashtra.
Is the government of Maharashtra afraid to take action against Raj Thakeray?
Is the government afraid of likely repurcussions on his arrest.
Of course Raj Thakeray wants to be arrested. Then he can be a hero to quite a few. Not all mind you.
His uncle Bal Thakeray and cousin Udhav would not like Raj to upstage them. Will the Tiger of Shiv Sena react?
In the mean time atmosphere in Mmbai is getting vitiated.
Some excerpts from TOIYogesh Naik | TNN Mumbai:
The cycle of violence set in motion by activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) continued uninterrupted in the city on Tuesday even as a seemingly unruffled Raj Thackeray, the MNS chief who started it all, attended the wedding reception of police commissioner D N Jadhav’s daughter Kirti in Goregaon.
The Oshiwara office of Manoj Tiwari, a popular Bhojpuri actor, was attacked by a mob owing allegiance to the MNS. A few migrants from north India were also beaten up in different parts of the metropolis. In Nashik, a local MNS activist, Vasant Gite, warned that all trains entering the state from the north would be stopped if north Indian leaders like Samajwadi Party’s Abu Azmi continued to make “provocative’’ statements. Azmi had said that lathis would be distributed to migrants from UP and Bihar so that they could defend themselves. Some vandals also pelted Azmi’s shoe showroom on Linking Road, Bandra. He claimed that the police were mute witnesses to the attack.
A group of MNS workers also tried to ransack the office of Sanjay Nirupam, a Congress spokesperson and former Shiv Sainik, who planned to lead a protest march to Raj’s home at Shivaji Park. While the police foiled the MNS plan, they took Nirupam and his supporters into custody. By Tuesday night, the city police had arrested 115 MNS activists and 19 SP workers.
The Shivaji Park police on Tuesday also arrested two key MNS functionaries, former MLC Shishir Shinde and MLA Bala Nandgaonkar, in connection with Sunday’s violence against Uttar Bharatiyas. They were later released on bail.
In New Delhi,railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded Raj Thackeray’s immediate arrest. A similar demand was also voiced by UP chief minister Mayawati. But the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra appeared to be in no hurry to act despite pressure from several quarters.
Meanwhile, Raj Thackeray mocked at those demanding his arrest by turning up at the Goregaon wedding reception. Host Jadhav gave him a grand welcome. Raj was nattily dressed in a suit and was accompanied by his wife Sharmila. On Tuesday, he reiterated his tirade against north Indian migrants, including actor Amitabh Bachchan.
Bhojpuri singer’s office targeted
If it was hawkers and cabbies who first tasted the wrath of the MNS, it was Bhojpuri artiste Manoj Tiwari who was at the receiving end of an attack on Tuesday. His
office in Andheri’s Mhada colony (above) was vandalised. Tiwari’s participation at SP leader Amar Singh’s rally at Shivaji Park on Sunday is believed to have prompted the attack. He is also a popular singer of ‘Chhath’ songs, the Bihari festival that MNS leader Raj Thackeray is opposed to.
