Some nerve this family has! The Thackerays are migrants to Bombay like everyone else. Hari Narke, professor and Mahatma Phule Chair at Pune University has written a strong worded article on the subject. This metropolis was not created by Marathis or any other local denomination. Bombay is the legacy of the British, whether you like it or not. Who cares? Goons like Bal Thackeray and Datta Samant have damaged the reputation of once a proud people. They have diminished the stature of national leaders like Shivaji, to a regional satrap.
The story of Thackerays began with the arrival of Keshav Sitaram Thackeray (also known as Prabodhankar Thackeray because of his articles in his fortnightly magazine named Prabodhan) to Bombay. Prabodhankar Thackeray (father of Bal Thackeray & Sitaram Thackeray) was a social activist and a prolific writer. The British tolerated him because of his progressive ideas about the empowerment of women and his strident opposition to the caste system. Keshav Thackeray was born in a lower-middle class Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu family.
The trouble started with his Marathi manoos ideology and his participation in Samyukta Maharashtra Chalwal (literally, United Maharashtra Movement) in the 1950s. They demanded to form a Marathi-speaking state of Maharashtra along with Bombay (the financial capital of India) as its capital. After much blood-shed the demand was finally conceded to by the erstwhile Chief Minister of Bombay State, Morarji Desai. This concession sealed the fate of cities like Nagpur and the rest of Maharashtra. Marathwada and Vidarbha remain neglected to this day.
Bal Keshav Thackeray (Balasaheb Thackeray) is the chip of the old block. He started his career as a cartoonist with the Free Press Journal, Bombay in the 50s. In 1960, he launched a cartoon weekly Marmik with his brother, Sitaram Thackeray (Raj Thackeray’s father). Balasaheb Thackeray launched Shiv Sena on June 19, 1966. The stated objective was to ensure job security for Maharashtrians against immigrants from Southern India. Rest is history. Twenty years of violence and intimidation finally got him the political power that he was looking for. Most of the Maharashtrians do not live in Bombay and Bal Thackeray does not care about the rest of Maharashtra.
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THINK! 