To Abu Azmi
dhananjay
bademiyansubhanallah
Will apologise to House, not to Azmi: MNS
11 Nov 2009, 1121 hrs IST, PTI
Mumbai: Raj Thackeray-led MNS, whose members assaulted SP legislator
Abu Asim Azmi in the Maharashtra Assmebly, today said they would
apologise to the House for their action but not to the MLA.
"We will apologise in the Assembly as it was not our intention to
malign the image of the House. However, there is no question of
apologising to Azmi," MNS leader Atul Sarpotdar told news agency.
"The whole controversy started because of one person - Abu Asim Azmi.
It was not our intention to lower the dignity of the House. What
happened was a spontaneous reaction by our MLAs," Sarpotdar said.
Raj Thackeray had issued a statement asking all MLAs in the Assmebly
to take oath in Marathi but Azmi deliberately chose to take oath in
Hindi, Sarpotdar said.
"MNS group leader in Assembly, Bala Nandgaonkar, will speak to Raj
Thackeray today on the issue of tendering an apology for Monday's
incident and would, during the course of the day, apologise to the
House," Sarpotdar said.
...and I am Sid Harth
chhotemianinshallah
MNS, Sena-BJP members seek Azmi's arrest
STAFF WRITER 12:0 HRS IST
Mumbai, Nov 11 (PTI) Members of MNS and Shiv Sena-BJP created noisy
scene in the Maharashtra Assembly today, demanding the arrest of SP
MLA Abu Asim Azmi over his "behaviour" on the opening day of the
session and his subsequent remarks against Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
Soon after the House commenced proceedings, MNS members shouted
slogans demanding Azmi's arrest.
They alleged that Azmi had made threatening gestures while he was
taking oath on Monday.
Sena-BJP members also joined in, demanding Azmi's arrest for his
"derogatory" comments against Bal Thackeray.
The House was adjourned for 10 minutes amid noisy scenes.
Sid Harth
BJP condemns MNS actions: Javadekar
STAFF WRITER 21:36 HRS IST
New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) In the backdrop of the assault on Samajwadi
Party MLA Abu Azmi in Maharashtra assembly by MNS members, a senior
BJP leader today said his party had condemned such attacks in the past
and alleged that most such incidents related to Raj Thackeray's party
were stage-managed.
During an interaction here, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said
his party had always condemned Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's brand of
politics and its actions.
MNS had first come into the limelight after its members attacked taxi-
drivers and low-end workers from North India who were working in
Maharashtra.
Javadekar alleged these were "stage-managed under police (patronage)".
"Yes, a few incidents did take place ... But on the whole Mumbai was
quiet. What it did had a psychological impact which helped the
Congress-NCP combine in the elections," he said.
chhotemianinshallah
'Ban MNS, arrest Raj'
TNN 10 November 2009, 06:00am IST
PATNA: Bihar politicians cutting across party lines condemned the
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) legislators for vandalising the
Maharashtra assembly and insulting the national language with chief
minister Nitish Kumar urging the Centre to ban the party and former
railway minister Lalu Prasad demanding jail for MNS chief Raj
Thackeray.
Nitish said the Maharashtra Speaker should ensure that criminal cases
are lodged against the MNS MLAs for slapping Samajwadi Party's Abu
Azmi who wanted to take oath in Hindi. "We respect Marathi language,
but the insult of the national language is deplorable," Nitish said.
"What crime Azmi committed by taking oath in Hindi, which has been
given the status of our national language by the Constitution? Azmi
would have been justified had he taken oath even in Urdu," Lalu said
and added if the country disintegrates, it will be due to such ugly
incidents in Maharashtra.
The RJD president asked the Prime Minister to hold an all-party meet
for putting an end to such incidents. He said the MNS is indulging in
such acts for cheap publicity hoping this would increase their tally
of 13 seats in the state House.
LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan demanded that sedition cases be lodged
against the guilty MLAs. "What has happened in Maharashtra is not only
`goondagardi' but also an attack on the Constitution," Paswan said and
added if the party and individuals responsible for it are not reined
in, the decline of the nation is imminent.
Deputy CM and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi was no less vociferous.
Describing the incident as shameful, he said MNS is the force which
ensured victory of Congress-NCP alliance in the just-concluded
assembly polls. "In days to come, MNS would become a demon which won't
spare the Congress," Modi said and demanded expulsion of the guilty
MLAs and slamming of sedition charges against them.
chhotemianinshallah
CM asks Centre to ban MNS
TNN 11 November 2009, 07:09am IST
PATNA: Taking strong exception to the Maharashtra legislative assembly
incident in which Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) MLAs on Monday
attacked Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Abu Azmi for taking oath in Hindi,
chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday reiterated that the MNS be
banned.
"The Centre's failure to ban the MNS would mean that the Congress
supports such elements," Nitish said and added Monday's incident is
not only an attack on the unity of the country but also an insult to
the national language.
SP members, meanwhile, burnt an effigy of MNS chief Raj Thackeray with
SP's Bihar unit president Tulsi Singh terming the MNS MLAs' act as
unconstitutional. He demanded immediate arrest of these MLAs.
Several other political and social organisations, including National
Socialist Party, Shaheed Jagdeo Sena, Rashtriya Yuva Morcha, All India
Students' Association, CPI(ML), Lok Rajniti Manch, Bihar Rajya
Nyayamitra Sangh, Soochana Ka Adhikar Jan Abhiyan, Bihari Helpline etc
also criticized the Maharashtra incident.
chhotemianinshallah
COMMENT
Stop The Hooligans
10 November 2009, 12:10am IST
Indian Parliament and state assemblies have seen some awful behaviour
over the years, including MPs waving wads of cash inside the House and
MLAs hurling chairs at each other. On Monday, yet another chapter was
added to this shameful history when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)
legislators roughed up Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi for taking his
oath of office in Hindi. Their reasoning, as explained by MNS
spokesperson Shirish Parkar, was that Azmi by speaking in Hindi had
offended the Marathi manoos.
Actually it's the other way around. It's the MNS that has offended the
Indian Constitution and subverted all norms of parliamentary
functioning. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. The MNS
and its chief Raj Thackeray have been saying all sorts of incendiary
things over the past year or so. One of the primary planks of the MNS
agenda is regional chauvinism. If it had its way outsiders wouldn't be
allowed to live and work in Maharashtra. This is patently against the
Indian Constitution and the right of an Indian citizen to move freely
and work in any part of the country. But by expressing his nativist
agenda in a violent way inside the Maharashtra assembly, Thackeray and
his party members have breached all constitutional norms. There is
absolutely nothing that prevents a legislator from taking his oath of
office in Hindi, English or any of the regional languages.
That the hooliganism inside the House was premeditated is evident from
the warning that Thackeray issued last week when he asked all the
newly-elected MLAs in the Maharashtra assembly to take their oaths in
Marathi or else face the "MNS music". The MNS kept its promise on
Monday when it attacked Azmi under the full glare of television
cameras. Such acts cannot be allowed to go unpunished. Democracy does
not sanction a "might is right" principle.
Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan has asked the assembly Speaker
to take action against the MNS legislators. The assembly responded by
suspending four MNS legislators for four years. This is heartening
since the Maharashtra government has often turned a blind eye to
threats issued by the MNS and acts of violence perpetrated by it. The
MNS's argument that Hindi is not used in Maharashtra stretches the
limits of credulity. Not only is Mumbai the country's commercial
capital but also the headquarters of the Hindi film industry. By
letting loose the law of the jungle inside the assembly the MNS has
struck at the very roots of India's constitutional democracy. It would
set an extremely dangerous precedent unless tackled right away.
chhotemianinshallah
SUBVERSE
What's your smother tongue?
Bachi Karkaria12 November 2009, 12:00am IST
Should 'swearing-in' be replaced by 'swearing-at'? Someone from each
side of the Monday Mumbai Melee may have provided an answer, but it
was drowned in the ruckus. Not just drowned, but slapped, shoved and
otherwise savaged. The Maharashtra assembly has just joined the ranks
of legislatures which suffer from delusions of being a gang-war zone,
a World Wrestling Entertainment stadium or a casualty ward.
Like Abu Ben Adhem, not to be confused with Abu Bhaiyya Azmi, Bihar's
name once 'led all the rest'. But Patna's USP is now everybody's SP -
or BJP, NCP or every other political 'P'. In virtually every state,
legislators have broken chairs, bones and all laws of decorum with
equal impunity. Parliament has become endemically unparliamentary.
Of course, it doesn't happen only in India. Two years ago we watched
enviously as Taiwanese MPs (including women) outdid our own elected
representatives by wrestling one another to the ground. The last
recorded legislative brawl in the US was in 1902, and involved two
South Carolina senators, but those standing to the north, west and
east of them also got hit. In the British parliament, treasury and
opposition benches are still separated by a red line, marking a
distance of two sword lengths.
Means, we only are not like that only. So why we only are being
slammed and spat upon as though we are some MLA defying the writ of
the Raj?
By now we have all heard, seen and tut-tutted over what happened on
Monday morning when the newly elected Maharashtra MLAs convened to
take their oaths, and to hurl them. The assembly thus became an
unlawful assembly punishable under Sec 144 and more.
Three points need to be pondered over, now that the burly hurling's
done. One, India may or may not claim patent and paternity on the
phrase, 'a riot of languages', but any language should trip off the
tongue, not be rammed down your throat. The 'fakhta Marathi' directive
could end up doing just that. On the other hand, left to individual
choice, more people would use, and appreciate this literary language.
As Vasant Pradhan, who once lost his editor's job for being a crusader
for Samyukta Maharashtra, pointed out after Monday's events, "The
belligerent-sounding Marathi being spoken by its so-called protectors
is a faulty introduction to a language that is so melodious, and has a
rich tenor."
It's the same with Bombay vs Mumbai. Left to itself, the old name
would die a natural death. But instead, each time it is delivered a
body-blow by the zealous vandals of the MNS or the SS, it gets hooked
once more to life-support. The more the fuss, the more the
perpetuation of 'Them' and 'Us'.
Secondly, if anyone should be complaining, it is Hindi. The Bambaiya
version is definitely not 'mangta hai' by the purist. Maharashtrians
have turned Hindi's verbs into vegetables, e.g. 'kya karela hai'. The
'aap' has been altogether dropped, and replaced by that great
leveller, the deathly 'tum'.
Mumbai's other dyed-in-the-bhel residents, Gujaratis and more so
Parsis, have subjected Hindi to such unspeakable atrocities that
Delhiwallahs are often unable even to recognise the mutilated mass of
mispronunciation and mangled syntax.
Finally, the scenes played out unrelentingly on television were meant
to condemn, but they may have also achieved exactly the opposite. We,
the public, may have cringed in disbelief, dismay and disgust. But in
the lumpen lanes of their constituencies, each replay pumped up the
reputation of the villains, transfiguring them into heroes. And
martyrs. That's the nature of this media beast. It could end up
glorifying the culprits. In much the same way that the self-anointed
champions of the 'Marathi manoos' could instead create a strangling
'Marathi manoose', linguistic or otherwise.
* * *
Alec Smart said, "What do elected leaders not need? A Koda of
conduct"
bachi.k...@timesgroup.com
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/erratica
chhotemianinshallah
Another attack on the idea of India
10 Nov 2009, 0406 hrs IST, ET Bureau
Members of the Maharashtra legislature who roughed up Mr Abu Azmi for
taking his oath as a member of the assembly in Hindi attacked not just
the Samajwadi Party leader but also the idea of India. India is a
composite nation of multiple, overlapping group identities — based on
religion, language, caste, region, ethnic origin. People do not become
Indian by shedding these identities, but retaining them and through
them.
Some sections of the metropolitan elite tend to venerate as the
secular Indian a deracinated Ram Robert Rehman who celebrates the
festivals of all religions but has contempt for spirituality and for
all Indian ‘dialects’ and the cultures encoded in them. They represent
loss of cultural roots, not sense on Indianness. Unity in diversity is
India’s guiding principle and that does not mean shedding diversity
and all of India subsiding into a monochrome homogeneity.
Rather, it means celebrating all hues — in their independent glory,
together as part of a rainbow or all combined, suffusing one another,
as white light, depending on the level of transcendence of difference
required in a given context. All chauvinisms attack this idea of India
embodied in the Constitution. And yet India’s political landscape is
littered with parties that thrive on chauvinism and its corollary,
hatred of ‘the other’, some small, like the Shiv Sena and its rebel
offshoot, some large, like the BJP.
And even parties that are not programmatically committed to politics
of exclusion find it cynically expedient to manipulate group
insecurities: the Congress is in power in Maharashtra, thanks to its
deliberate failure to nip the anti-north-Indian platform of the MNS in
the bud, and the Left thought it could pass off its communal wooing of
Muslims as anti-imperialism, during its campaign against the Indo-US
nuclear deal.
The BJP faces double jeopardy. It shares Hindu chauvinism with its
ally, the Shiv Sena. But it cannot share its ally’s objection to
India’s most widely spoken national language, both on counts of
ideology and its north Indian support base. Its only way out is to
renounce all chauvinism. Chauvinism breeds chauvinism, in reaction, in
alliance and, finally, in self-defeat. Another attack on the idea of
India
Members of the Maharashtra legislature who roughed up Mr Abu Azmi for
taking his oath as a member of the assembly in Hindi attacked not just
the Samajwadi Party leader but also the idea of India. India is a
composite nation of multiple, overlapping group identities — based on
religion, language, caste, region, ethnic origin. People do not become
Indian by shedding these identities, but retaining them and through
them.
Some sections of the metropolitan elite tend to venerate as the
secular Indian a deracinated Ram Robert Rehman who celebrates the
festivals of all religions but has contempt for spirituality and for
all Indian ‘dialects’ and the cultures encoded in them. They represent
loss of cultural roots, not sense on Indianness. Unity in diversity is
India’s guiding principle and that does not mean shedding diversity
and all of India subsiding into a monochrome homogeneity.
Rather, it means celebrating all hues — in their independent glory,
together as part of a rainbow or all combined, suffusing one another,
as white light, depending on the level of transcendence of difference
required in a given context. All chauvinisms attack this idea of India
embodied in the Constitution. And yet India’s political landscape is
littered with parties that thrive on chauvinism and its corollary,
hatred of ‘the other’, some small, like the Shiv Sena and its rebel
offshoot, some large, like the BJP.
And even parties that are not programmatically committed to politics
of exclusion find it cynically expedient to manipulate group
insecurities: the Congress is in power in Maharashtra, thanks to its
deliberate failure to nip the anti-north-Indian platform of the MNS in
the bud, and the Left thought it could pass off its communal wooing of
Muslims as anti-imperialism, during its campaign against the Indo-US
nuclear deal.
The BJP faces double jeopardy. It shares Hindu chauvinism with its
ally, the Shiv Sena. But it cannot share its ally’s objection to
India’s most widely spoken national language, both on counts of
ideology and its north Indian support base. Its only way out is to
renounce all chauvinism. Chauvinism breeds chauvinism, in reaction, in
alliance and, finally, in self-defeat.
chhotemianinshallah
Guv: Linguistic disharmony will not be tolerated
Somit Sen, TNN 12 November 2009, 03:10am IST
MUMBAI: Governor S C Jamir on Wednesday sent a strong signal to
legislators in both Houses when he declared that the "state was
committed to maintaining linguistic harmony and any attempt to disturb
it would be dealt with firmly''.
Addressing a joint session of the state legislature, Jamir said,
"Marathi being the language of the state, the government is committed
to preserve its glory, prestige and honour. It will take necessary
steps to preserve the glorious tradition of Maharashtra and protect
everyone living and working in the state. But any attempt to disturb
this social equilibrium will not be tolerated.''
With the first anniversary of 26/11 two weeks away, Jamir assured
legislators that the "security of common citizens would be the first
and foremost priority of the government''. He added, "The state police
have been provided with modern equipment and training to meet the
challenges of terrorism. We now have Quick Response Teams, Force One
on the lines of the NSG and 66 speedboats for coastal patrol.''
The governor said the state was committed to eliminating Naxal
violence. "We have created a separate Gadchiroli range for the state
police and are implementing a special action package costing Rs 1,386
crore to be made available to Naxal-affected areas over the next three
years,'' he said.
Besides, Rs 100 crore would be spent on development for tribals in
these areas. "We plan to provide quality education to tribal students
and bring them on a par with the general population,'' he said. The
government plans to sponsor 2,500 tribal children from Class I to
Class XII and bring them to reputed residential schools, he told the
legislators.
Jamir said the government would provide employment to 5 lakh "sons of
the soil''. For this, the state seeks to attract investment of at
least Rs 2.5 lakh crore in the next five years. It will also promote
the IT industry in Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad.
"The government will make the state load-shedding free by 2012, supply
quality foodgrains at subsidised prices to families below poverty
line, enhance reservation for women in panchayat institutions from 33%
to 50% and implement a housing scheme for neo-Buddhists,'' said
Jamir.
The governor said there was a special focus to develop Mumbai as a
global city. "Besides expediting work on the metro, monorail, trans-
harbour link and new international airport at Navi Mumbai, work will
also begin to extend the sea link up to Nariman Point and Versova,''
he said.
Jamir said more than 50 lakh farmers had availed of fresh loans of Rs
8,732 crore in the current kharif season. For 2009-10, a provision of
Rs 7,578 crore has been earmarked for irrigation.
chhotemianinshallah
Mandsaur court issues notices to Raj, four MNS legislators
PTI Thursday, November 12, 2009 16:20 IST
Mandsaur (MP): Taking cognisance of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS)
attack on Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi for taking oath in
Hindi, a local court has issued notices against party chief Raj
Thackeray and four suspended party MLAs.
Chief judicial magistrate RR Badodiya issued notices yesterday against
Raj Thackeray and four other MLAs -- Shishir Shinde, Ramesh Wanjale,
Vasant Gite and Ram Kadam and asked them to appear before the court on
December 14 for hearing on a petition filed by one Pukhraj Dashora.
Dashora in his petition said that he was hurt by the reports of MNS
attack on Azmi for taking oath in Hindi in the Maharashtra Assembly
and described it as a "gross insult to the national language and also
an attack on national integration."
The magistrate took cognisance of the petition under section 153 (a)
of the IPC for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of
religion, language, place of birth, residence and doing acts
prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.
chhotemianinshallah
Raj Thackeray admires Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi: MNS website
PTI Wednesday, November 11, 2009 20:45 IST
Mumbai: The reason why Raj Thackeray admires both Adolf Hitler and
Mahatma Gandhi is "the way they shook up societies and created
uproar," according to the official website of MNS.
However, on Monday, it was the admiration for the Fuehrer which was on
display in the Maharashtra Assembly as MNS MLAs bashed up another
Legislator in the House. The MNS website has an interesting
conversation with the enfant terrible of Maharashtra politics.
Excerpts:
"Question: You say you admire Gandhi, who preached non-violence. Then
why do your followers heed to violence? The answer: You need to
communicate with your opponent in a language they understand, a
language they can comprehend."
Beating up SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi for not taking oath in Marathi as he
could only understand the language of violence was the message given
by Raj and his men, who were mute spectators when some other MLAs did
not take oath in the language and instead opted for English.
Hitler's stormtroopers persecuted Jews and people who opposed the
Fuehrer. Raj and Azmi have been at loggerheads since the MNS chief
launched his anti-north Indian stir.
Raj told PTI in 2005, "When it comes to organisational skills, there
are few who can rival Hitler. Leave aside his negative aspects like
the barbaric annihilation of millions of Jews. There are several
chhotemianinshallah
chhotemianinshallah
Mind his language
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Sujata Anandan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
November 12, 2009
First Published: 21:49 IST(12/11/2009)
Last Updated: 21:52 IST(12/11/2009)
Raj Thackeray was in search of issues in 2007 to further his Marathi
agenda when he thought he had hit upon an ideal one. He decreed that
registration numbers on all vehicles in Maharashtra henceforward be
written in Marathi.
The Road Transport Authority (RTA) byelaws clearly state that licence
plates be written in English alphabets with Arabic numerals. “If they
can make this concession for Muslims and allow them to write in Urdu,
then why this step-motherly treatment to Marathi?” Raj asked as
posters supporting his demand went up across Mumbai.
They had to be brought down hastily a day or two later following media
ridicule and an explanation from the authorities: Arabic numerals
simply meant that the numbers were written as 1, 2, 3 etc; not as I,
II, III et al, which were Roman numerals. “This has been done to
facilitate vehicles to travel all across India because authorities in
one state cannot be expected to read alien scripts. It is a central
law in the interest of uniformity. No one in any state can overturn
it,” the RTA said
That level of ignorance was brought back this week to his Marathi
manoos campaign, when his spokesperson Shirish Parkar denied — on
national television — that Hindi was more than just the language of
Biharis and Uttar Pradeshis. “It is not the national language,” he
stated unambiguously.
I was appalled but not really surprised. Because even Bal Thackeray
has never in his life been conversant either with the Constitution of
India or any of our laws. “North Indians migrating to Mumbai will not
be
given ration cards,” he had announced as his first policy soon after
the Sena-BJP government came to power in Maharashtra in 1995, knowing
little that the rationing authorities were not at the beck and call of
the state government.
Pramod Mahajan of the BJP had to stretch himself to the extreme to
persuade Thackeray to withdraw the remark and convince him that it was
not constitutionally possible to disallow anyone to come to Mumbai and
apply for a ration card. Then, again, at the ripe old age of 73,
Thackeray Sr did not know the difference between a Commission of
Inquiry and a simple Enquiry Committee. “They are different?” he had
asked. And he was not dissembling.
Raj, then, is just a chip off the old block. But this time, perhaps in
ignorance again, he has breached all constitutional propriety, setting
himself up as an extra-constitutional authority by writing to all
Maharashtra MLAs to eschew Hindi — or else.
Who will tell him that even the President of India cannot overturn
Hindi as India’s national language?
chhotemianinshallah
Sena threatens to stop screening of Kurbaan
Kiran Tare / DNA Saturday, November 14, 2009 2:06 IST
Mumbai: The Shiv Sena doesn't want to see Kareena Kapoor in the nude.
And they have decided to go all out to drape her in a sari -- at least
in her upcoming film, Kurbaan.
The party on Friday threatened to stall screenings in cinemas if the
scene showing Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan undressed is not removed. More
than 200 Sena workers gathered at the JVPD circle in Juhu and draped
Kapoor -- in the film's poster -- in a saffron sari
Later, women workers visited Kapoor's home in Khar and tried to hand
over a saffron sari to her parents as a gift for their daughter. The
police, who were already present at the spot, stopped them from doing
so.
Jitendra Janawale, Sena's deputy chief in Andheri, termed the poster
vulgar. "The Juhu residents had complained to us about the poster," he
said. "They were unhappy because their children were spending a lot of
time gazing at the poster while going to school." The police
registered a case against the Sena workers for illegally assembling in
Juhu. Four women workers were arrested and later released on bail.
Janawale, however, said the party workers did not break any law. "What
is wrong if we cover a nude picture of a woman?" he asked. "Neither
did we blacken the poster nor did we tear it. If the police needed to
register a case, they should have booked Kareena, Saif and the
producer of the film Karan Johar."
This is the second instance in 30 days that a film by Karan Johar has
been caught in a controversy. Earlier, the MNS had protested against
his film Wake Up Sid for using Bombay instead of Mumbai in the film.
Johar had apologised to MNS chief Raj Thackeray for the 'mistake'. He
also inducted a disclaimer in the film apologising for it.
Johar's comments are not available because he did not pick up the
phone or reply to smses.
chhotemianinshallah
Mumbai belongs to India: Sachin
Vijay Tagore / DNA Saturday, November 14, 2009 0:10 IST
Mumbai: "Mumbai belongs to India." The message may not go down well
with Raj Thackeray, but his friend and one of the city's most
prominent Marathi manoos, Sachin Tendulkar, has different ideas about
Maharashtra and Mumbai.
"I'm proud to be a Maharashtrian but I personally feel I'm an Indian
first," Tendulkar told a gathering of select journalists on Friday.
"I get a lot of inspiration when I know that a billion people of India
are with me. That is a great motivation to go on," said the batting
legend, who will be completing 20 years of international cricket in a
couple of days.
But Tendulkar did not stop there. "I believe Mumbai belongs to India,"
he said, when asked what Maharashtra meant to him.
chhotemianinshallah
SP to felicitate Azmi for taking oath in Hindi
PTI Saturday, November 14, 2009 12:46 IST
Lucknow: Samajawadi Party will honour its Maharashtra unit president
and newly elected MLA Abu Asim Azmi for taking oath in the national
language despite being assaulted by MNS legislators inside the
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Assembly Elections 2009Azmi was attacked by the 13 member-strong MNS
contingent as soon as he began to take his oath in Hindi on November
9.
The MNS members snatched the mike placed before him and uprooted the
podium, and allegedly slapped Azmi and hit him on the chest.
"The party will honour Azmi on November 17 for his courage to take
oath in Hindi despite violent opposition by the MNS members in
Maharashtra assembly," party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said here
today.
The felicitation ceremony will be held at the SP headquarters in
Lucknow, and would be attended by party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav
and national general secretary Amar Singh, he said.
"By taking oath in Hindi, Azmi had not only shown patriotism, but also
bravely faced those posing threat to the unity and integrity of the
country," Chaudhary said.
He said his party condemned the attack on Azmi by the MNS members.
bademiyansubhanallah
Case of treason filed against MNS chief
TNN 12 November 2009, 11:12pm IST
JAMSHEDPUR: Following a ruckus in the Maharashtra assembly, a case of
insult to Hindi language and treason has been filed against
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray with the CJM
court.
Hamid Raja Khan, a lawyer practicing with the district court has filed
the case under section 295A, 298, 153A and 121 of Indian Penal Code
(IPC) seeking legal action against the MNS leader for insulting Hindi
language on the floor of the House.
The complaint alleges that Raj Thackeray asked his legislators not to
take the oath of office in Hindi, which is an act similar to treason.
The lawyer has urged the court to prosecute the firebrand leader and
his MNS functionaries for indulging in activities that tantamount to
treachery. The case will come up for hearing on November 16.
Demanding withdrawal of the political party status conferred to MNS by
the Election Commission of India, the lawyer also sought punishment
for all the members of MNS including four legislators facing four year
suspension from Maharashtra assembly for misconduct on the floor of
the House.
The conduct of the legislators on the directive of their leader Raj
Thackeray was not in consonance with the fundamentals of the
Constitution of India and it appears that they are running a well
planned conspiracy to break the country on the lines of regionalism
and language, asserted the young lawyer.
bademiyansubhanallah
Raj's firm made Rs 300cr by selling stake in mill?
Nauzer Bharucha, TNN 15 November 2009, 09:16am IST
MUMBAI: As a politician, MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s reason for
existence may be his avowed love for the Marathi language. But in his
avatar as a businessman, money’s the language he appears to be most
conversant with.
The politician who doubles up as a builder has made a killing by
selling his stake in Kohinoor Mill No. 3 at Shivaji Park. Thackeray’s
business partner and Matoshree Infrastructure chairman Rajan Shirodkar
told TOI on Saturday that they exited the project six months ago by
offloading their share at a profit of Rs 62 crore.
However, bankers and real estate insiders believe the actual profit
might be considerably larger, given the prevailing rates. Matoshree
chairman revealed that five banks funded the consortium that bought
4.8 acre Kohinoor property for Rs 421 crore in mid-2005 — at almost Rs
88 crore per acre. Thackeray is a director in Matoshree
Infrastructure, his other partners being Shiv Sena leader Manohar
Joshi’s Kohinoor Group and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial
Services.
When Matoshree got out of the project some time in April, the
property, including land and construction, was valued at Rs 1,050
crore, according to Shirodkar.
Each of the three partners held an equal, one-third share in the
project, he added. Assuming that Matoshree staked claim to one third
of the appreciation in value from the original purchase price of Rs
421 crore (that is, Rs 629 crore), the margin may have been more
substantial than Rs 62 crore, according to property specialists.
Explaining why Matoshree exited the project, Shirodkar said, ‘‘We had
planned for a mall but later realised that it would not work at all,
especially after the market crashed and lease rentals in malls came
down from Rs 600 a square foot a month to under Rs 200/sf.’’
‘‘After we completed the basement work, we realised that it would be
tough to manage a mall with such low rentals in the island city,’’
said Shirodkar. The construction work had come to a halt for several
months because of the change in plans. Manohar Joshi’s son, Unmesh,
head of the Kohinoor Group, told this newspaper on Saturday that
project plans had now been reworked for a single commercial tower.
Sources said that a number of local businessmen from the financially
powerfulKutchi community had initially invested money in the Kohinoor
Millproject.
In 2005, when NTC put this mill on the block, virtually every big
builder in Mumbai and Delhi had shown interest. But, instead of fierce
fight that many expected, only three builders turned up when bids were
opened. This had led to raised eyebrows. The two other bidders were
Varun Industries (bid of Rs 411.11 crore) and Akruti Nirman (Rs 355
crore).
Interestingly, barely months after the sale in 2005, Congress MP
Sanjay Nirupam had alleged that funds stashed in Madagascar were used.
Manohar Joshi then countered stating that it was financed by banks and
private investors.
bademiyansubhanallah
Recruit only Marathis, MNS warns SBI
Somit Sen, TNN 15 November 2009, 06:53am IST
MUMBAI: The State Bank of India (SBI) will not cancel or postpone the
clerical recruitment examination, which will be conducted across the
state on Sunday, said an SBI official in response to Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's warning on Saturday that
the bank should not allow "outsiders" to sit for the test in
Maharashtra.
"We are keeping our fingers crossed. We have ensured sufficient
security at the examination centres. But we don't envisage a problem
similar to the railway exams which were forced to be rescheduled, as
in our case, most of the candidates are locals," said the official.
On Saturday, a group of MNS activists led by MLA Bala Nandgaonkar
submitted a letter to the SBI recruitment cell in the city, urging it
to give preference to locals. They argued that if there was a state
quota of 1,100 vacancies, all of it should be allotted to locals.
( Watch Video )
"Why should people from other states be allowed to come to Maharashtra
and give the exams? They can appear for the test in their respective
states," said Nandgaonkar. The SBI's clerical recruitment examination
is an all-India test with 11,000 vacancies across the country. "We
want no `outsiders' to claim these posts," said MNS activist Sandeep
Deshpande. He warned of `MNS-style protests' on Sunday if `outsiders'
were allowed to sit for the exams at centres in Mumbai, Pune and other
parts of the state.
The MNS claimed they had approached the SBI in 2008 and demanded that
domicile certificates be made compulsory for those appearing for the
exams. "We were assured that domicile certificates would be made
mandatory and locals would get preference from 2009. But they have
reneged on their promises and we have threatened them with dire
consequences if they do not rectify the mistake," said Deshpande.
The police are on alert following the threat. A state police officer
said, "We will provide bandobast outside the exam centres. Those who
indulge in violence will be dealt with firmly."
A history of violence
This is not the first time that the MNS has objected to outsiders
sitting for Central recruitment examinations in Maharashtra.
On October 19, 2008, the MNS went on the rampage disrupting the
Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) exams that were held in Mumbai and its
satellite cities. They attacked candidates from UP and Bihar who had
come to Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan. They dragged candidates out of the
hall and assaulted them.
In the attacks, more than 20 people were seriously injured and
thousands of scared candidates fled Mumbai and other cities. Several
MNS activists were detained or arrested, and booked for assault,
rioting and damaging public property worth lakhs of rupees. MNS chief
Raj Thackeray was also arrested the same month for his anti-north
Indian tirade and for inciting violence.
The Railways shifted the exam centre from Mumbai to Lucknow citing
"inadequate security''. Political observers fear that if the MNS
continues in this manner, Maharashtra will soon be declared as an
"unsafe'' place to hold any examination.
chhotemianinshallah
RSS chief sends message to MNS
Shailendra Paranjape / DNA Sunday, November 15, 2009 2:24 IST
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has disapproved
of the recent Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)-led violence in the
Maharashtra state assembly saying that those wanting to voice the
problems of the Marathi manoos must not damage the national spirit and
harmony of the nation.
"Those who want to change the course of society should be cautious and
not cross the limits by doing something that would harm the national
spirit and harmony," Bhagwat said, responding to a question during an
interaction with select editors and journalists in Pune.
He also said that each state has its own problems of influx of people
from other states."The RSS will intervene if needed but in such a way
that the issue is not aggravated," he said.
On his maiden visit to Pune after taking charge as the RSS chief,
Bhagwat also said that the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) needs a "young
face as its new president", who can set right the party organisation
and help it reconnect with the masses.
When asked to comment on BJP Maharashtra unit president Nitin
Gadkari's name being floated as the next BJP president, Bhagwat said
that it was for the BJP to take the decision and that the RSS never
interferes in its internal matters.
chhotemianinshallah
No impact of MNS threat; SBI exams smooth
PTI Sunday, November 15, 2009 17:28 IST
Mumbai: Amid MNS threat of protests against "outsiders" taking its
clerk recruitment exam in Maharashtra, the State Bank of India today
said the examinations were conducted smoothly and no reports of
disruption were reported.
"The Maharashtra Government has provided security cover to all the
exam centres in the state and the exams are held smoothly. There have
been no reports of disruption from any centres so far," a senior SBI
official said here.
Country's largest bank had sought security for all 60 exam centres in
four cities -- Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad -- after Raj
Thackery-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, in a letter to the bank,
demanded domicile certificates from all candidates appearing for exams
in Maharashtra.
This would mean that a candidate appearing for the examination should
be resident of the state for at least 15 years, the official said.
"We have learnt that 1100 vacancies exist in Maharashtra and we want
no outsiders to claim these posts," MNS activist Sandeep Despande had
said yesterday.
The SBI said out of a total 11.5 lakh candidates called for the exam
today, about nine lakh appeared for the test at 1,237 centres across
83 cities in the country.
In Maharashtra, nearly 75 per cent of 46,000 candidates allowed to
take the exams, turned up at respective exam centres, the official
said.
In all, the bank had called 34.5 lakh students for tests to fill up
about 11,000 vacancies across the country.
"Exams started last Sunday and 8.88 lakh students, out of the expected
11.5 lakh, appeared for the exam. Today around 9 lakh candidates are
appearing. Exams will continue next Sunday as well," the official
said.
bademiyansubhanallah
November 22, 2009
The ugly face of Marathi only
In MNS, Congress creating another Frankenstein!
By Virag Pachpore
As Maharashtra enters its golden jubilee year, the newly constituted
Maharashtra State Assembly witnessed unprecedented scenes on its very
first day on November 9. The four MLAs of maverick Raj Thackeray’s
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) virtually took the law in their hands
and tried to stop Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Abu Azmi from taking the
oath in Hindi in the House. In the parliamentary history of India
since Independence, the Parliament and state assemblies have been
witness to such incidents in the past. But what happened in the
‘progressive’ Maharashtra State Assembly should serve as an eye-opener
to all those who believe in, and are committed to strengthen
democratic traditions in India. It may be noted that the MNS and Raj
Thackeray had earlier warned those opposing Marathi of dire
consequences. The attack on Abu Azmi was a mere indication of things
to happen in future if this diktat of Raj were ignored.
More disgusting and irritating was the ‘silence’ of the ‘protectors of
democracy, and secularism’ sitting on the treasury benches. It was
anybody’s guess that the MNS received encouragement from these so-
called secular forces to sabotage the growing influence of Shiv Sena
in Maharashtra. It was in a sense repeating the history. Years ago in
the 60s and 70s the Shiv Sena received the same encouragement from the
same ‘secular’ forces in its campaign for the ‘Marathi Manoos’. That
time the target was the South Indians in Mumbai, who allegedly
encroached upon the right to employment of the ‘Marathi Manoos’. Bal
Thackeray then was clandestinely supported by stalwart strategists in
the secular Congress like SK Patil and his ilk. Now his nephew Raj is
simply repeating the history by stepping in his shoes. However, the
target this time is the North Indians and Hindi.
All the languages have their origin in Sanskrit, the mother of all the
languages of the world. Therefore, as Shri Guruji Golwalkar, the
second Sarsanghachalak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), had
stated, all our languages are our national heritage.
The issue of languages has been debated in the Parliament and state
assemblies earlier too. There had been violent agitations on this
issue in various parts of the country. The issue is still burning
somewhere as in case of Belgaum, or dormant somewhere as in case of
Assam. But what the country has failed to understand and experience is
the innate unity of expression all these languages provide in the
peculiar Indian social and cultural milieu. Those who insist on a
particular language forget that they are damaging the spirit of
national unity. This is not to defend people like Abu Azmi or denounce
the protagonist of Marathi like Raj Thackeray and his flock of
hardliners. They might be raising this issue for the short-lived
political gains, because they have to create their constituency in
Maharashtra’s political environment, and what could be a better handy
tool for them than raising the Marathi issue? But the more dangerous
is the latent animosity towards people speaking other Indian languages
living in a particular language-dominated state. They are the ones who
have to bear the brunt of this mindless and meaningless hooliganism
enacted in the name of ‘furthering’ the cause of their language.
When the issue to make Hindi our national language was being discussed
and debated in the country immediately after Independence, similar
opinions were expressed. Some people like Dr CP Ramaswami Aiyar even
ridiculed Hindi, while some others felt Hindi would eclipse their
mother tongues. But that did not happen. On the other hand, the rulers
of that time hesitated in making Hindi the national language of India.
Instead, the policy of language states was adopted by Pt. Nehru.
States in independent India were reorganised on the basis of language
ignoring the long-term danger it would pose. Now the bitter fruits of
this policy are visible and have started taking a toll of our national
integrity and unity. The MNS-Abu Azmi stand-off on the issue of Hindi
is the glaring example of this sublime hatred generated by this
language-state policy of the then Congress government.
Nevertheless, the hooliganism let loose in the State Assembly could
not be ignored. Therefore, the action taken against those four MNS
MLAs was justified. Such acts should not go without punishment.
However, the extent of punishment could be debated on various
platforms. But this is also the time to go deeper and think over the
issue in a more logical way. The fear expressed by ‘Marathi Manoos’ in
view of the increasing influx of people from other states in Mumbai,
the financial capital of India, cannot just be ignored. A way out has
to be devised to divert this influx. Creating more job opportunities
in their own provinces can be one of the alternatives. For this, the
government will have to encourage and support indigenous technology
and locally available resources including the human resources.
Another aspect that needs attention of the society is that insistence
on regional languages would undermine the importance of the national-
link language, which is currently Hindi. Hindi has also been lingua
franca since ages in India, much before the Constitution granted the
status of official language to it. Hindi has also been a natural
vehicle of inter-communication during the freedom struggle right from
the 1857 war of independence to 1947. In that context Hindi can be
described as swabhasha of India. Therefore, there is nothing wrong in
somebody taking oath in Hindi. There is no reason or logic to oppose
this, certainly not in the manner the MNS MLAs did. The supporters of
Abu Azmi also should not use this incident to create a divide in the
society. The recent reactions of SP leaders appear to go in that
direction. It is in the interest of the nation that both Raj Thackeray
and Abu Azmi understand the importance of language and not play
politics over the issue.
chhotemianinshallah
BJP, Congress, RJD slam Thackeray for Sachin comment
Headlines Today Bureau
New Delhi, November 16, 2009
If you have a query on Bal Thackeray's reaction to Sachin, Ask Prabhu
now.
Political parties, including the BJP, on Monday criticised Shiv Sena
patriarch Bal Thackeray for his dig at Sachin Tendulkar.
The BJP, which is in alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra,
backed Sachin's statement that he's an Indian first and then a
Maharashtrian. SACHIN @ 20: FULL COVERAGE
"There is nothing wrong in Sachin's remarks. Sachin is right that he
is an Indian first and then a Maharashtrian," said BJP leader Arun
Jaitley.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad said Thackeray's statement, which appeared in
the Sena mouthpiece Saamna, showed he was jealous of Tendulkar.
"Sachin is India's pride and Bal Thackeray is jealous of his
popularity. People have forgotten Thackeray," Lalu said in Patna.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari brushed aside Thackeray's comment.
"The statement is completely out of context and not worth the paper
it's written on," Tewari told Headlines Today on phone.
B.K. Hariprasad, general secretary of the Congress, said anyone who
had problems with the Indian identity had no right to stay in the
country. "From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, India is one. We feel proud
calling ourselves Indians. If they (Shiv Sena) have a problem with
that, they have no right to stay in India," Hariprasad said.
Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI's media in-charge, demanded that Thackeray
withdraw his remarks. "I don't agree with this contention that
Marathis get upset if one calls oneself an Indian (first). There is
nothing wrong in Sachin's statement. He (Bal Thackeray) should
withdraw his statement," Shukla said.
Thackeray's comments also evoked a strong reaction from Minister of
State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor. "On Sachin and Sena, my
late dad Chandran Tharoor said in 1966... 'with Maharashtra for
Maharashtrians... and Kashmir for Kashmiris, where is India for
Indians?'" Tharoor wrote on twitter.com.
chhotemianinshallah
Thackeray criticises Sachin over "Mumbai for all" remark
16 Nov 2009, 1124 hrs IST, PTI
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday criticised Sachin
Tendulkar for his "Mumbai for all" remark, saying there was no need
for the cricket icon to take a "cheeky single" and hurting the Marathi
psyche by moving to the pitch of politics.
"There was no need for him to take a cheeky single by making such
remarks," Sena mouthpiece 'Sammana' quoted Thackeray as saying.
"By making these remarks, you have got run-out on the pitch of Marathi
psyche. You were not even born when the 'Marathi Manoos' got Mumbai
and 105 Marathi people sacrificed their lives to get Mumbai," he
said.
Thackeray expressed displeasure that Sachin "left the crease" and
moved to the pitch of politics by making these remarks which have hurt
Marathi sentiment.
In a rebuff to the "Marathi Manoos" plank of Shiv Sena and Raj
Thackeray's MNS, Tendulkar had said on Friday that Mumbai is for all
Indians.
"Mumbai belongs to India. That is how I look at it. And I am a
Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that but I am an Indian
first," said Tendulkar
Shiv Sena and MNS have often played the "Marathi Manoos" card in a bid
to attract votes. Raj Thackeray's fledgling party had even unleashed
an anti-north Indian campaign inviting criticism.
chhotemianinshallah
SBI holds exam as cops keep MNS men at bay
16 Nov 2009, 1027 hrs IST, Sanjeev Shivadekar, TNN
MUMBAI: Ignoring Maharashtra Navnirman Sena threat, the State Bank of
India went ahead with its written recruitment exams in Maharashtra on
Sunday.
An MNS delegation met the bank authorities on Saturday and threatened
to agitate if locals weren’t given preference while filling up the
bank’s vacant posts. Anticipating that the MNS activists would try to
disrupt the exams, the police had beefed up the security at all the
examination centres in the state.
A senior home department official said police were instructed to deal
strictly with the MNS had they tried to disrupt the exams. "Last year
the MNS activists were successful in disrupting the railway board
exams as the administration was caught unawares. This time the force
was geared up to deal with any such attempt to disturb the law and
order situation," he added.
MNS spokesperson and MLA, Nitin Sardesai said they (MNS workers )
found most of the candidates to be locals during a surprise check
conducted at various examination centres . "It’s not necessary that
every time the party has to restore to violence to convey its
feelings," he added.
In October 2008 too the MNS workers were involved in the similar
activities . The MNS workers had then attacked railway examination
centres in suburban Mumbai forcing the board to call off the exam at
many centres in the city and its outskirts.
Sid Harth
India blasts Thackeray for taking on Sachin the legend
16 Nov 2009, 1952 hrs IST, IANS
NEW DELHI: India's political establishment Monday joined the cricket
board to slam Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray after he criticised
cricket icon Sachin Tendulkarh's "Mumbai belongs to all" comment.
From the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), otherwise a Shiv Sena ally, to
the perenially critical Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the
entire political class said that Thackeray's hard-hitting attack on
Tendulkar was uncalled for.
In a signed, open letter to the cricketer published in the Shiv Sena
mouthpiece Saamna Monday, Thackeray said his "friendly advice" to
Tendulkar was that he should "concentrate on international pitch" and
stay away from politics for his "own well-being".
Thackeray, whose party suffered a rout in last month's assembly
elections in Maharashtra, took umbrage at the cricket maestro's
statement last week that he was "a proud Maharashtrian but an Indian
first" and "Mumbai belongs to all".
That comment followed widespread criticism of the Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena for the assault on Samajwadi Party
MP Abu Azmi for taking oath in the Maharashtra assembly in Hindi. A
furious Thackeray said that players like Tendulkar "ultimately play
only for themselves".
In no time, voices across India, a country which is celebrating 20
years of Tendulkar's glorious career that has made him a cricket
legend, hit out at the 83-year-old Shiv Sena founder leader.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said Thackeray's
remarks were needless.
Said BCCI spokesperson Rajiv Shukla: "It is completely uncalled for.
They (Shiv Sena) have no business to talk like this. Tell me what
crime Sachin has done? What is wrong in saying that 'I am an Indian
and Mumbai belongs to all'... No Marathi will support Shiv Sena if
they talk like this."
A day after the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) denounced linguistic
chauvinism, the BJP simply refused to side with the Shiv Sena. Party
leader Arun Jaitley told reporters here: "If any Maharashtrian says he
is proud of being a Maharashtrian as well as an Indian, then I find
this statement absolutely correct."
The Congress did not spare the Shiv Sena. Its spokesman Abhishek
Singhvi said: "He (Thackeray) should be the last person to preach to a
gentleman cricketer like Sachin Tendulkar."
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said on Tweet:
"On Sachin and Sena, my late dad Chandran Tharoor said in '66: 'With
Maharashtra for Maharashtrians and Kashmir for Kashmiris, where is
India for Indians'?"
bademiyansubhanallah
NEW DELHI, November 17, 2009
Congress slams Sena for criticising Sachin
Anita Joshua
The Congress on Monday assailed the Shiv Sena for criticising
cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s “Mumbai for all” remark while the Sena’s
ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, found nothing wrong whatsoever in
what the master batsman had said.
Condemning Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s criticism of Tendulkar’s remark,
Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said: “This reaction to Sachin
Tendulkar’s assertion of his Indianness is completely unwarranted.”
Making a suo motu statement, the spokesman sought to clarify that
normally the party would not have dignified Mr. Thackeray’s
observations with a reaction as they were “not worth the paper they
are written on.” “Though it is not our business to advise political
parties on how to run their affairs but if they concentrate on
national issues they would be able to play the role of a good
constructive opposition,” Mr. Tiwari said.
bademiyansubhanallah
Mumbai/New Delhi, November 16, 2009
Don’t forget your roots, Sena tells Sachin
Meena Menon
Protesting Sachin Tendulkar’s “I am an Indian first and Mumbai is for
all” remark, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, in a letter to the
cricketer in Saamna, said Sachin was not even born when Marathi people
fought for Mumbai.
He referred to the bloody struggle for the formation of Maharashtra
State and the martyrdom of 105 people for Mumbai. “Mumbai cannot
belong to anyone else and even if it was the country’s economic
capital, it was the capital of Maharashtra first.”
The Sena chief commended Tendulkar for his game and riches and the
fact that he was a billionaire. However, Mr. Thackeray said, the
cricketer’s statement that he was an Indian first and Maharashtrian
later had shaken Maharashtrians.
A separate editorial, “Sachin’s no ball,” has reminded Sachin of his
Marathi roots and told him not to forget where he had come from, among
other things.
“Friendly advice”
Defending the diatribe as friendly advice, Sena leader Subhash Desai
told a press conference that Mr. Thackeray had not said anything
undesirable, adding he had the right to advise Sachin.
“Just as Sachin is the last word in cricket, Mr. Bal Thackeray is the
last word for Mumbai and Maharashtra.”
Support for Sachin
However, support for the cricketer has come from Chief Minister Ashok
Chavan, who told a television channel that Sachin had spoken from the
heart and his remarks would unite the country.
Sachin’s remarks were made in the spirit of a sportsman, Mr. Chavan
said. He did not attach any importance to Sachin’s critics.
None can object to Sachin’s stand: Jaitley
In a veiled attack on its alliance partner Shiv Sena, the BJP on
Monday supported cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s ‘Mumbai for all’ remark,
saying nobody could object to his stand.
“Sachin is fully correct. I don’t think anybody can have objection to
it ... India is proud of him and he is proud of being an Indian,”
senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley told journalists in New Delhi
Mr. Jaitley, however, refused to respond to a question whether Sena
chief Bal Thackeray had ‘insulted’ Sachin by accusing him of hurting
Marathi sentiments.
bademiyansubhanallah
New Delhi, November 16, 2009
‘Sachin has clean bowled Bal Thackeray’
PTI
Taking a jibe at Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray for criticising Sachin
Tendulkar for his “Mumbai for all” remark, Minority Affairs Minister
Salman Khurshid said the cricketer has clean bowled Thackeray.
“Sachin has got Bal Thackeray out. Now, he ( Thackeray) may cry as
much as he wants after the fall of the wicket but it is true that he
has got out,” Khurshid said when asked on the controversy between
Tendulkar and Thackeray.
“If you ask who do I like between Bal Thackeray and Sachin Tendulkar.
My answer is, I like Sachin,” he added.
In an interaction with the media on completing 20 years in
international cricket, Tendulkar had earlier said, “I am a
Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that. But I am an Indian
first. And Mumbai belongs to all Indians.”
Reacting sharply to it, Thackeray, in an editorial in Saamna, the Sena
mouthpiece, said, “There was no need for him (Sachin) to take a cheeky
single by making such remarks.”
He also alleged that Tendulkar “left the crease and moved to the pitch
of politics by making these remarks, which have hurt Marathis.”
bademiyansubhanallah
Cong, BJP eyeing mayoral elections
Pandurang Mhaske / DNA Tuesday, November 17, 2009 0:50 IST
Mumbai: The elections for the mayor of the city will be held next
month. After the triumph in the assembly elections, Congress, the
opposition in BMC, is eyeing the post with a vengeance. On the other
hand, the Sena-BJP alliance is seeing the post as the only face-saving
measure now. The lottery for the reservation will be carried out on
Tuesday at the Mantralaya.
The Sena-BJP alliance has 115 corporators in the civic body, while the
Congress-NCP and other opposition parties have 110 corporators.
Congress needs only three more corporators to topple the alliance in
the civic body.
On the other hand, the Sena-BJP alliance is seeing a support of five
corporators from outside, two from Akhil Bhartiya Sena and three
independents.
MNS can also play a vital role in the election as it has five members.
It will join hands with the congress only if the candidate will be a
Maharashtrian. One Sena's corporator said that if there will be secret
elections for the mayor's post, it may prove dangerous for the
alliance.
Sid Harth
Sons of soil torn between two Ts
Kiran Tare / DNA Tuesday, November 17, 2009 1:20 IST
Mumbai: Who has first right over Mumbai? Should we support Bal
Thackeray or Sachin Tendulkar on the Maharashtrian-versus-Indian
debate? These are the questions that have left many Maharashtrian
citizens on the fence.
Intellectuals, on the other hand, preferred to evade the issue
completely, either saying they were unaware of the brouhaha or that
they were simply not interested. Except for theatre personality Mohan
Wagh and journalist Nikhil Wagle, the others DNA contacted refused to
comment on the controversy.
"Sachin is innocent," Wagh said. "He will never say that
Maharashtrians should not get priority in Mumbai. The media has
twisted his statement. He is a sportsperson and his statement should
be taken sportingly. There should be no dispute over it."
Wagle maintained that there was nothing wrong with Tendulkar's
statement. "Sachin Tendulkar is an international icon," he said.
"Though Balasaheb's criticism is mild, he does not think while
criticising. The Sena has used Balasaheb to score over the MNS."
On the internet, Maharashtrian bloggers were divided in their views.
"If someone asks me in India where I am from, I say Mumbai, not India.
But when someone asks me abroad the same question, I say I am from
India. Sachin is basically framed by media. He did not said anything
against Marathi (sic)," wrote blogger Vishwas Joshi.
Another blogger, Salim Khan, wrote, "The master blaster Sachin is
great forever as Indian cricket icon. He is on right track. Sachin you
just concentrate on your game. Don't care for such comments."
"If farmer, doctor, trader can express his views why not Sachin
(sic)?" wrote Swati Thakar. "He was born to a poet professor. He knows
well what is right and wrong."
Yet another blogger, Umesh Pawar, focused on development, or the lack
thereof: "Shiv Sena, please concentrate on Maharashtra's development.
Take your battle for good roads, education, hospitals, drinking water
and electricity. Raise voice against land mafias instead of Sachin
Tendulkar (sic)."
bademiyansubhanallah
Thackeray's statement on Sachin, a dangerous trend: Rama Jois
PTI Tuesday, November 17, 2009 20:06 IST
Bangalore: Former chief justice of Punjab and Haryana high court Rama
Jois today termed Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's criticism against
cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar for his "Mumbai for All" remark as a
"dangerous trend" which can be ignored only at peril to the nation.
Tendulkar was "right" when he said Mumbai belonged to the entire
nation and "though he is a Maharashtrian, he is an Indian first,"
Jois, former governor of Bihar and a Rajya Sabha member, said in a
statement here.
By taking exception to Sachin's remark, Thackeray "proves growing of
weeds of linguistic chauvinism", he charged.
Jois, quoting the words of a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court
in 1984, said "we find that today integrity of the nation is
threatened by divisive forces of regionalism, linguism and
communalism. And regional, linguistic and communal loyalties are
gaining ascendancy in national life and seeking to tear apart and
destroy national integrity".
These words of warning, he said, should guide us to remove the "weeds
of linguistic chauvinism by feeling of intense patriotism, fraternity
and integrity of the nation, subordinating regional and linguistic
feelings".
Earlier, referring to the preamble of the Constitution and the Vishnu
Puranas, Jois said "it is this spirit of oneness that united the
entire nation and enabled us to fight against and get rid of slavery".
bademiyansubhanallah
Poisoning minds
Aroon Tikekar Thursday, November 12, 2009 22:22 IST
As if unhealthy competitive politics of the Thackeray cousins was not
enough, the state of Maharashtra has plunged into noxious provocative
politics. This week's disruptive raucous in the state assembly
virtually muted leaders of all the four major parties, Congress, NCP,
BJP and Shiv Sena.
Abu Azmi, the lone Samajwadi Party representative, was the target of
attack by MNS MLAs for flouting their boss's diktat of taking oath of
membership of the assembly only in Marathi. Azmi was obstructed,
abused, even slapped.
The podium was removed and slogans were shouted. Azmi, who is no saint
either, on his part, was seen taking his footwear in hand in
retaliation to his detractors. He has ever been ready to play
political mischief.
If in two and half decades of his residence in Mumbai Azmi has not
picked up even rudimentary knowledge of Marathi and cannot read a few
lines of the oath in the official language of the State, can he claim
to be an MLA from Maharashtra? Therefore who provoked whom, could be a
moot point and a matter of investigation. But that such an incident
took place in a temple of democracy is a disgrace to all.
This single incident has disrespected all those guardians of
democratic norms who strived to lay down sound and healthy traditions
of party politics in Maharashtra. This week's incident does not appear
to be an impulsive misadventure as both sides seemed to have planned
their strategies. The signs of the times are that this is not going to
end here. Azmi is a compulsive instigator and Raj, like his uncle, a
compulsive reactor.
Raj will not relent in his campaign because brothers and sisters of
the Marathi people from Maharashta have been residing in Madhya
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Haryana. The Marathas went to
North India on war campaigns in the 17th and the 18th centuries and
many continued to stay there. These families are trying to retain and
foster their Marathi culture in whatever way they can. Even in
Karnataka Assembly the Marathi MLAs from Belgaum insist on taking oath
in Marathi and not in Kannada.
What will happen to all of them if they are forced to eschew their
Marathi pride? What if every Indian state starts insisting on
observance of local traditions and customs and speaking only the local
language? Will the trend ultimately lead to linguistic balkanisation
of the country? Parochialism in a limited quantity does help
development of the region, but when let loose it can kill the unity of
a diverse nation.Mumbai being miniature India can ill-afford to lose
its cosmopolitan character.
A small measure of initial political success seems to have given Raj
Thackeray unlimited confidence. He has started issuing fatwas like his
uncle Bal Thackeray. But the senior Thackeray operated in a different
social milieu. The new saviour of the Marathi language had proclaimed
that every member of the newly formed assembly must take oath in
Marathi, the official language of Maharashtra.
Even Hindi won't do as the Constitution does not recognise Hindi as
the "national" language, contrary to the common belief. Raj did not
seem to have read that the same Constitution has termed Hindi as the
"official" language of the new nation.
The followers of Raj ever willing carry out with great enthusiasm the
"virile" diktat of their party boss particularly when Marathi honour
is challenged. Convinced that the Marathi manoos is getting a raw deal
in his own territory, they dutifully translate into 'action' his
instructions and go on rampaging, ransacking, intimidating and even
manhandling to "save the honour of Marathi manoos".
Has the Marathi manoos become so vulnerable that he is ready to
indulge in violent acts at the slightest provocation? Is his mind so
much infected with ill-conceived and unwise answers to complex issues?
Shiv Sena leaders have been doing it for years.
Now Raj hopes to beat the party his uncle founded for similar causes
on their own ground with his MNS. Marathi men and women ever in search
of magical solutions appear to be convinced that Raj is on the way to
righting the wrong done to them. On the other hand the migrants from
UP and Bihar look to Abu Azmi as their saviour.
Faced with a similar situation, Cicero, the Roman statesman, is
reported to have publicly stated, "How can people be called back when
the crowd is urging them on?" Years of poisoning the minds of lower
orders of society appear to result in the naive, emotional crowd
urging both Abu Azmi and Raj Thackeray on.
The joy of being able to keep the Shiv Sena dream and shatter the
dreams of Uddhav seems to have made him supercilious. Aren't there
more important issues of the state that are waiting for Raj's
attention? How to restrain both Raj and Azmi will be a priority issue
for both chief minister Ashok Chavan and home minister RR Patil.
The writer is a commentator on political affairs
bademiyansubhanallah
Chargesheet filed against Raj Thackeray for assault on North Indians
PTI Wednesday, November 18, 2009 17:52 IST
Mumbai: The Mumbai Police today filed a 73-page charge sheet in a
local court against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj
Thackeray and 20 others for rioting and assault on North Indians
appearing for a Railway Recruitment examination here last year.
The assault had taken place when MNS was agitating against what they
termed as the Railway's policy to issue advertisements in newspapers
in North India to attract candidates from that region instead of
giving priority to the "sons of the soil" (local people).
Copy of the chargesheet was given to each accused, including Raj
through their lawyer Sayaji Nangre. The MNS chief, standing near the
witness box, said "Ha" when the Magistrate called out his name to
ensure he was present in the court. Other accused said "Ji" to
register their presence.
Dressed in a white Kurta Pyjama, Raj appeared to be calm and composed.
The charge sheet enumerated the incident that happened in October last
year when candidates from North India had come to Chetna College in
suburban Bandra to appear for a Railway Recruitment Examination.
Raj and his supporters are facing charges of tearing off posters put
up at the examination centre and beating up candidates who appeared
for the test.
The accused have been charged under various sections of the IPC such
as 142 (unlawful assembly), 144 (joining unlawful assembly with deadly
weapons), 145 (joining unlawful assembly knowing it has been commanded
to disperse), 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on
various grounds and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony),
153(B) (Imputations prejudicial to National Integration), 342
(wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
After handing over copies of the charge sheet to the accused, the
Magistrate fixed September 13, 2010 as the next date of hearing in the
case. Raj was arrested on October 21 last and granted bail on the same
day by a Bandra magistrate.
chhotemianinshallah
Back to basics may not help Mulayam
19 Nov 2009, 0429 hrs IST, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: SP’s project to woo back Muslims in Uttar Pradesh appears
to be fraught with challenges, even as the party rehashes the formula
of returning to its hard-line avataar in a bid to outwit Congress.
The choice of Maharashtra MLA Abu Asim Azmi as its new Muslim mascot
bears the stamp of a brand of politics that might take a lot to sell
to the state’s minority voters.
Mr Azmi, the Maharashtra MLA who morphed into an overnight sensation
after being roughed-up by MNS legislators for refusing to take oath in
Marathi in the state assembly, is the SP’s representative of the
state’s Muslims as well as a nationalistic saviour of the Hindi-
speaking people.
He is being primed to fill in the place vacated by Azam Khan, a key
Muslim face of the party, who left in protest over the induction of Mr
Kalyan Singh, the former BJP leader who presided over the fall of the
Babri Masjid as Chief Minister.
It is unclear if Mr Azmi will appeal to the minority voter whose
loyalty to the SP in UP owed something to the there-is-no-alternative
factor. But this could have changed with the revival of Congress as
results of the Lok Sabha elections and the recent by-polls show.
SP appears to have been shaken more by its defeats in Mr Mulayam
Singh’s home turf of Etawah and Barthana than by its loss in the
Firozabad LS seat.
Sid Harth
The world outside the box
Antara Dev SenThursday, November 19, 2009 1:06 IST
Bal Thackeray seems to have been suitably snubbed by all, including
his saffron allies, for pouncing on Sachin Tendulkar's comment that he
was a proud Maharashtrian but an Indian first, and that Mumbai belongs
to all. The discomfort about pigeonholing identities has perhaps come
to a head with a cult figure like Tendulkar taking a stand against the
xenophobia.
It is time we woke up to the alarming u-turn we have taken in the path
of liberalism and inclusivism that had once marked our culture. The
Hindu right, in fact, have come so far away from our philosophy of
cultural tolerance, that even Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the brazenly
right Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is complaining about some
political parties "converting India's diversity into discrimination
for political gains". Sadly, the proponents of Hindutva have been
doing this for years, with cultural chauvinism ruling religious,
linguistic and regional identities.
Only a pathological fantasist would believe that India never had
discrimination and that its pluralism never faced problems. The
greatness of our culture lies in the ability to overcome these
differences and thrive as a pluralistic country. And when we started
out as an independent nation, we chose this as the way forward. This
resolve was stamped into not just our Constitution and laws, but also
in the cultural institutions established around that time -- like the
Sahitya Akademi and the National Book Trust -- that would promote
multiculturalism through the many language literatures of the country.
Close on their heels came cultural institutions from overseas.
Take the Goethe Institute, known here as the Max Mueller Bhavan, which
is now celebrating 50 years in India with a flourish of art, theatre,
films and literature. But maybe we should step back for a moment and
think of what Goethe and Max Mueller stand for. They were great German
thinkers and writers, certainly, but to me their primary importance
lies in their ability to think beyond borders. Whatever their
respective flaws, they could reach out and feel at home in the world.
"Self knowledge comes from knowing other men," said Goethe, whose idea
of Weltliteratur or world literature triggered the concept of
literature without borders. About 200 years ago, he had put cultural
xenophobia firmly in its place: "You will find the most pronounced
hatred of other nations on the lowest cultural levels."
And Max Mueller, who triggered an interest in Indian studies and
comparative religion about 150 years ago, talked of how he found the
greatest peace and joy in Indian philosophy. He had translated the
Upanishads and the Rig Veda and was disturbed by the narrowness that
had crept into the interpretation of Hinduism. He hoped for a
reformation. "It is the root of their religion," he said of the Rig
Veda, "and to show them what the root is, I feel sure, is the only way
of uprooting all that has sprung from it during the last 3,000 years."
For his efforts, he was criticised furiously by Christian chauvinists
then and by Hindu chauvinists later.
We also tend to forget our own glorious tradition of free thinkers.
About 350 years ago, Dara Shikoh translated the Upanishads into
Persian, taking it out of the confines of Sanskrit and Hinduism and
giving it a wide international readership. In modern India,
Rabindranath Tagore established Visva Bharati, or the University of
the World, in Bengal almost 90 years ago. The thirst for other
cultures has consistently been part of our pluralistic tradition.
It is important to remember people who could 'think out of the box' --
a phrase we use ad nauseam while digging our heels deeper into
customised boxes. We better stay out of the various little boxes that
we are constantly asked to lock ourselves into. Because once we get
in, it's ruddy difficult to get out.
Sid Harth
I have hired a tutor to learn Marathi: Abu Azmi
PTI Friday, November 20, 2009 15:54 IST
Mumbai: Assaulted by MNS MLAs in the assembly for not taking oath in
Marathi, Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Asim Azmi is now learning the
language, and says he can face Raj Thackeray in a TV debate next year.
"I have hired a tutor to learn Marathi," Azmi, who was recently
felicitated by his party for "upholding the honour of Hindi", told PTI
here today.
"I had also hired a tutor for Marathi five years ago, but then I was
in Parliament and there was no need for Marathi," Azmi said.
"Now, after entering the State assembly, I realise one must learn
Marathi. I am learning it for an hour or so daily," he said.
Asked if he was confident that he would pick up enough Marathi to
participate in a TV debate with Raj Thackeray next year, Azmi said,
"Yes, I am sure, I will be able to take part in the debate."
The MLA from Mankhurd said it was necessary for an MLA from
Maharashtra to know Marathi. "I respect Marathi. But Hindi should come
after Marathi in Maharashtra as it is also widely used," he said.
chhotemianinshallah
RSS slams ‘regional’ Senas
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, Nov. 21:
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has slammed both Bal and Raj Thackeray
for their obsession with “Marathi manoos”, or sons of the soil, and
insistence that only Marathi should be spoken in Maharashtra.
It said that Raj was basically doing what his uncle had in the ’60s
and ’70s, the difference being that while the senior Thackeray had
attacked south Indians, his nephew was targeting those from the north.
An article in the latest issue of the Organiser (November 22), the
Sangh’s in-house journal, also attacked the “secular” and
“progressive” Congress for “encouraging” the Shiv Sena earlier and now
Raj’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
The sub-text of the Sangh’s criticism of regional chauvinism is it
runs counter to its concept of “one nation, one people, one language”
— it is chary of adding “one religion” these days — or “cultural
nationalism”.
The article warned that the recent attack on Samajwadi Party
legislator Abu Azmi for refusing to take oath in Marathi was a “mere
indication of things to happen in (the) future if this diktat of Raj
was ignored”.
“More disgusting and irritating was the ‘silence’ of the ‘protectors
of democracy and secularism’ sitting on the treasury benches.… It was
in a sense repeating history,” Virag Pachpore, the author, said.
chhotemianinshallah
'It's not about Hindi per se. I won't salute a goonda'
15 November 2009, 01:09am IST
Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi is often referred to as Mr
Controversy. His most recent brush with controversy was his refusal to
take his legislator’s swearing-in oath in Marathi. This open defiance
of Raj Thackeray earned him much abuse from MLAs belonging to
Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). But Azmi did not seem to
care.
A vocal critic of Thackeray, he has openly crossed swords with him and
his uncle, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. After his spectacular win
from two Mumbai seats in last month’s Vidhan Sabha elections, his
supporters insist he is Qaid-e-Millat or community leader. He is also
Maharashtra’s richest MLA, with assets worth Rs 125 crore. Azmi talks
linguistic politics with S Balakrishnan. Excerpts from the interview
At what stage did you decide to take the oath in Hindi and nothing
else?
After I got elected to the assembly, I wrote to the legislature
secretariat requesting that the agenda papers be made available to me
in Hindi. The principal secretary replied that the papers can be had
either in Marathi or English. I was shocked to learn that the papers
are available in a foreign language, but not in the national language,
Hindi. I issued a press release protesting this. It was then that Raj
Thackeray held a press conference and insisted that the oath be taken
only in Marathi.
Why do you hate Marathi? What was the harm in taking your oath in
Marathi? After all, you owe your enormous wealth to Maharashtra,
whence you came from Uttar Pradesh?
In fact, I respect Marathi like my own mother tongue. It is
unfortunate that I do not know Marathi even though I grew up and
prospered in Maharashtra. I respect Maharashtra and its people. It is
because they do not discriminate among people and that is the reason
that I have managed to do so well financially. But a few politicians
are trying to create problems for the people.
So, would you have taken the oath in Marathi? In any case, Marathi,
like Hindi, is written in the Devnagri script.
Had the presiding officer of the House requested me to take the oath
in Marathi, I would certainly have considered the suggestion. But I
was not doing anything unconstitutional by taking the oath in Hindi. I
just did not want to succumb to Raj Thackeray’s compulsion of taking
the oath in Marathi. If a goonda of my mohalla insists I salute him, I
will refuse. My self-esteem is more important to me.
Because of the controversy you helped generate, public attention was
diverted from the gross failures of the Congress-NCP government on key
matters such as electricity generation, agriculture etc.
I agree. But am I to keep quiet when a systematic campaign is being
carried on against north Indians? After the attack on north Indian
students at Kalyan station by Raj’s boys, he warned against the
celebration of Uttar Pradesh Diwas. I protested against this illegal
demand. North Indians were beaten up for no reason. I appealed to them
to hit back in self-defence. Legally, you can use violence in self-
defence. But I have nothing against the Marathi people. In fact, when
a Marathi man was killed in an MNS-sponsored violence in Nashik, Amar
Singh and I called on his family and compensated them.
Do you subscribe to the view that the Congress-NCP is using the MNS to
counter Shiv Sena?
I have no proof. But several IAS and IPS officials have told me that
the ruling parties are funding the MNS big time. Why has Raj Thackeray
never been jailed despite his provocative statements? It is well known
that the Congress-NCP has politically benefitted from the MNS factor.
Your former associate in the SP and senior NCP leader, Nawab Malik,
has alleged that you and Raj Thackeray are partners in a construction
project in Nagpada. What do you have to say to that?
I swear on my six children and the Koran that I have never met Raj
Thackeray, not even once. I have no direct or indirect dealings with
him. But it is true that my brother-in-law’s son-in-law, Maaz Sher, is
director of Silver Planet Construction Company, which is involved in
that project. Maaz told me he does not have a partnership with Raj
Thackeray. Let Nawab Malik take ‘kasam’ on the Koran and prove my
alleged business links with Raj Thackeray. Only then will I be willing
to become bonded slave to Nawab.
If I even unwittingly had any dealings with any of Raj’s men, I’d be
willing to quit politics.
bademiyansubhanallah
Rly exams in regional languages simultaneously: Mamata
Agencies
Posted: Saturday , Nov 21, 2009 at 1943 hrs
Mumbai:
Mamata Banerjee said the Rly tests will be conducted in regional
languages simultaneously.
Against the backdrop of MNS attacking candidates from North India
appearing in railway exams in Maharashtra, Railway Minister Mamata
Banerjee said the tests will be conducted in regional languages
simultaneously.
"The railway exams will be conducted in regional languages
simultaneously apart from English and Hindi. In Maharashtra, the exams
will be held in Marathi and in other states, these will be held in
local languages," she told reporters.
"The decision was taken after a review was carried out and a new
policy was formulated," she said, adding that besides English, Hindi
and Urdu, tests will be held in regional languages.
Banerjee said this after Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said at a
function that ‘locals must be given importance. Whoever is a domicile
of Maharashtra must first get an employment opportunity."
Chavan, however, said his government does not support agitations based
on language and region. "It is not our policy."
He said irrespective of the language people of Maharashtra speak or
the belief they follow, "we are concerned about their employment and
request her (Mamata Banerjee) to pay heed to this matter."
Comments (11) |
Marathism will torn India into pieces
By: Mohan | 21-Nov-2009
Winston churchil said Britishers have united India by imposing some
kind of uniformity across the country but India will disintegrate due
to its own thousands of contradictions which is unique in the world
and non-comparable. Marathism and regionalism will torn India into
pieces eventually. A boundary of language is being created defying
capabilities. Marathis will also be paying the price of their lust but
it too will be too late by then.
C'mon let us bring uniformity
By: maharashtrian | 22-Nov-2009
yes, Churchill and the British united India by imposing some kind of
uniformity across India.That is exactly what we have been saying...let
us maintain that uniformity by having a uniform language handicap
across the whole of India.Let us conduct all our affairs in English at
the national level.This will not bestow undue advantage to the semi
literate hordes from the Northern states who normally enter cent govt
services like cattle taking advantage of their better knowledge of
Hindi.Talk English and then let us see who is the better Indian.I
fully agree with the Tamilians and their leader the H'ble Periyar on
this issue.Knowing and working in English does not make us any less of
an Indian.
Appeasement of Marathis will create Marathistaan
By: Ramesh Bhandari | 21-Nov-2009
Appeasement of Islam created Pakistan and now appeasement of Marathis
will create Marathistaan. It will be a matter of time. This is a
darkest day in our democracy where jobs will be given by Raj
Thackerays and MNS people and their supporters congressi leaders like
Ashok Chavan.
Somrthing is very wrong with you
By: Naresh Pitale | 22-Nov-2009
Ramesh i think something is very wrong with you. Don't forget that one
of the greatest contributors to the Indian Constitution was Dr
Ambedkar, a Marathi manoos. And unlike Punjab where Khalistani ideas
were born and practiced , Maharshtra has never spoken of carving out a
separate nation. Rather Hemant Karkare and others died while
protecting the nation from terrorists
It is quite simple really
By: marathi manoos | 22-Nov-2009
The logic of exams in Marathi is really quite simple. Just as
declaring Hindi as the national language and insisting that people of
all states learn it and work in it has created a Hindustan, so also
Marathi an official language under the Indian Constitution should be
allowed for public exams.Else let all of us conduct our affairs in
English so that everyone is handicapped to the same extent.C'mon Mr
Bhandari.
Is our country being talibanised for the sake political powers and
lust of votes ?
By: Mona Sharma | 21-Nov-2009
This is unfortunate that jobs are given based on lanaguage and region
overlooking merit. These exams are just an eyewash in Maharashtra.
Bombay is a cosmpoliton city but 90% jobs are held by Marathis due to
long cherished policy of Marathis giving jobs to only Marathis.
Marathis are running the parallel government everywhere in the state.
Law and order taken into their hands. Hindi speaking people are not
safe here since last 60 years. Shiv Sena has poisoned the minds of
Marathis and all martahis are talking language of Raj and Bal
Thackeray alias Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Is our country being talibanised
for the sake political powers and lust of votes ?
where do u get your facts from?
By: marathi manoos | 22-Nov-2009
It is obvious that Mr/Ms Sharma does not know anything about Mumbai.
90% of jobs are held by Marathis? and non Marathis are not safe in
Mumbai for the last 60 years? If that was the case I suppose the
central govt would have taken some action in the last 6 decades! If
not it speaks volumes about the competence of the Central Govt which
is dominated by Hindi speaking illiterates from the cow belt.By the
way, you are giving me ideas and we Marathis learning from your false
allegations promise you that we shall try to make them come true, if
the likes of you don't stop spreading falsehoods. I tell you, you
can't even lie properly!
Why abuse Raj Thakeray?
By: Vatsala Mattoo | 21-Nov-2009
After heaping the worst abuses on Raj Thakeray, his demands are being
fulfilled by ruling party one by one.This is sheer political
opportunism.
physician heal thyself
By: marathi manoos | 22-Nov-2009
The matter is similar to some erstwhile refugees from Pakistan coming
over to India in 1947 and after being victims of majoritarinism
themselves, start preaching the Indians of the virtues of
pseudosecularism.
Privatize railways(not fully)
By: Praveen | 21-Nov-2009
Privatize railways and make them compete with public sector railway.
Let us see which is better.
Good Decision
By: Jay | Saturday , 21 Nov '09 20:41:33 PM
That is a good decision being taken. And the CM of Maharashtra
understands that the points articulated by MNS resonate with a lot of
people in Maharashtra. Now the other hope is that the anti-Marathi and
biased N. Indian journalists who populate the English media will also
see the light of the day since till now they cant or wont understand
the points which MNS has raised and think its all about being blindly
anti North Indian.
bademiyansubhanallah
Mohanji lauds Karnataka BJP government
RSS Sarsanghachalak criticised the opposition to Maharashtra
legislators taking oath in Hindi thus fuelling a language row and
praised Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa for unveiling the
statue of Tamil saint, poet Thiruvalluvar in Bengaluru. While
addressing a huge public meeting at Krishna Vihara in Palace grounds
on November 22, he said: “At a time when the country is facing so many
problems, it is unfortunate that political parties are raking up the
language issue in Maharashtra.” He wondered that some people are
indulging in selfish politics in the land of freedom fighters, saints,
national leaders in true spirit like Rana Pratap, who sacrificed
everything for the country whereas the political parties are deviating
from the main goal of building Hindu Rashtra and instead are creating
a havoc in the society. In this context, he praised Karnataka Chief
Minister BS Yeddyurappa for the unveiling of the statues of two of the
country’s great saints—Thiruvalluvar in Bengaluru on August 9 and
Sarvajna in Chennai on August 13—which marked the dawn of a new era in
cordial, harmonious and brotherly relations between the people of
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Admiring the initiative taken by the
Government of Karnataka to promote goodwill, social harmony and
humanism, he said: “It is a model for the entire country and if such a
pragmatic approach is adopted by all states, mankind will be able to
live peacefully.” While Shri Mohan Bhagwat made this positive comment,
Justice (Retd.) Rama Jois, Rajya Sabha Member, who was sitting next to
BS Yeddyurappa, appreciated the CM by patting him in delight. Shri
Yeddyurappa and many of his Cabinet colleagues and Bengaluru city
Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly had turned
up in complete ganavesha for the mega event. Industry minister
Murugesh Rudrappa Nirani, IT, BT minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, law
minister S Suresh Kumar, energy minister Eashwarappa, primary
education minister Vishwesh-wara Hegde Kageri, BJP general secretary
Ananth Kumar, tourism minister Janardhan Reddy, library and lottery
minister Shivanagouda Naik, Wakf minister Mumtaz Ali Khan and many
other BJP leaders were also present at the function.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=320&page=3
bademiyansubhanallah
Thinking Aloud
Maximum city takes maximum brunt
By Dr Jay Dubashi
Mumbai is a market, not a city. This makes perfect sense, if you
realise that London and New York are also markets and only
incidentally cities. There was a time when you could not do without
English in London. But about 15 years ago, I discovered that you can
do very well in London without knowing a word of English.
Mumbai is on the boil, once again. About this time last year, on
November 26, to be precise, it came under attack from Pakistani thugs,
masquerading as jehadis, who killed over two hundred Indians and
scared the city out of its wits. Now, once again, the ghosts of that
attack are making the rounds. A Pakistani called David Headley, a
bogus name, for the man is a Muslim, who is supposed to be a
mastermind behind the last attack, is in the news again and so are
others involved with him, though, of course, they deny it.
Why do these things happen only in Mumbai? Because it is a city
without political authority, where you can get away with murder.
Mumbai should have been a powerful city, like London or New York,
because of its financial clout, but is probably the weakest city in
the state. The state government itself is so weak, it is almost non-
existent. It is, in a way, Sharad Pawar’s city, but the man is busy
with other things—mostly to do with money—and comes to life only at
the time of elections. So do other so-called leaders, including the
home minister, a man called Patil, who is more concerned about running
the municipality of his home town than Mumbai. All the ministers,
including the Chief Minister, are a weak lot and have no clue about
running a city like Mumbai which is the nerve-centre of the country’s
economic life.
The trouble with Mumbai is that everyone is an “outsider.” This is a
tricky word, with political connotations, but the fact remains that 99
per cent of the state’s politicians are outsiders and use Mumbai only
to make money. There are also other “outsiders”, like a man called Abu
Azmi, a builder from Uttar Pradesh who came to Mumbai forty years ago
and is now rated one of the city’s richest men. But, for all his years
in Mumbai and Maharashtra, he still can’t speak the local language and
has never learnt it. It is not his fault; he doesn’t have to learn it,
for you can perfectly get along in Mumbai without knowing the local
language, for almost everybody you encounter is an “outsider” and does
not know the local language either!
Abu Azmi is not an exception. Most industrialists who have settled
down in Mumbai do not know the local language. Tatas have been in the
city for a century-and-a-half, and are renowned citizens of the city.
But I have never heard any of them ever speaking Marathi, or, for that
matter, even Hindi. They have never felt the need for it. Nor for that
matter, had Dhirubhai Ambani, who came to Mumbai from his native
Gujarat via Aden way back in 1960’s and has been here ever since. So
is his business. I have never heard them speak in anything but English
or Gujarati or, occasionally, Hindi, for you can do even without Hindi
in Mumbai.
In fact, almost all big industrialists of Mumbai are non-Marathis and
do not know the language. They are a cosmopolitan crowd, who probably
worry more about prices in Switzerland where they take their holidays,
than shopping in the local markets, for they rarely shop in local
markets. In any case, half their family lives abroad, mostly in London
or New York, and they are more particular about getting their Cockney
accent right than their Hindi or Marathi pronunciation.
Actually, you can make sense of cities like Mumbai if you think of
them as markets, not cities. You live in Mumbai because you have
something to sell—yourselves—or buy, and if you can do this in Hindi
or English, why learn Marathi? Abu Azmi must be doing his buying and
selling in Hindi—he does not look like a man who is comfortable in
English—so he has never learnt the local language. It is like having
to learn Persian in New York. And he was quite happy about it, until
he encountered a noisy crowd in the Maharashtra Assembly asking him to
take his oath in Marathi, a language, he said, he didn’t know!
As I said, Mumbai is a market, not a city. This makes perfect sense,
if you realise that London and New York are also markets and only
incidentally cities. There was a time when you could not do without
English in London. But about 15 years ago, I discovered that you can
do very well in London without knowing a word of English.
Bus conductors speak Hindi, underground ticket collectors speak Hindi,
there are many Indian bank clerks, even the Foreign Office has Indians
(though the girls don’t wear sarees) and, of course, some of the best
restaurants in London are Indian-owned. In fifteen years’ time, you
should be able to live in London without knowing a word of English,
just as you can carry on in Mumbai without knowing a word of Marathi.
It is because Mumbai is more of a market than a city, people like
David Headley can come and go and almost do what they please, without
attracting much attention. This is true of almost all major cities in
the world. They have become markets, where you live only because there
is no other alternative.
In fact, it is difficult to know now who is an insider and who is an
outsider. An insider can be an outsider, and vice-versa, depending
upon where he lives. I have never visited Sikkim, so I am an outsider
in Sikkim. But if I go and live there, I become an insider, though I
may not know the language at all. And a man from Sikkim will be an
insider in Mumbai, even if he may not know the local language.
We are actually both insiders and outsiders, particularly in India. In
fact, I cannot see how an Indian can be an outsider in India. This
whole great country is ours, no matter where we are. If I am a
Mumbaikar, I am also a Bengali—because Bengal is a part of India, and
I am an Indian, wherever I may be. I am a Tamil, I am a Keralite, I am
a Delhiwala, and I am a Punjabi, because Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi and
Punjab are Indian territories, and I am an Indian. I belong to all and
they all belong to me.
But there is a problem. If I belong to all, I must show that I belong
to all of them and they belong to me. I must not run them down,
because they do not speak my language or because they dress
differently. We are all Indians, we are all one people, wherever we
may live. It is a pity Abu Azmi doesn’t realise this. He should have
said, “I am sorry I do not know Marathi, but I shall learn it, and
next time I shall do my best to take my oath in it. After all, Marathi
is as much my language as Urdu or Hindi, for I am an Indian.” Will he
say it?
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=320&page=5
chhotemianinshallah
AJMER ALAM WANI
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Samajwadi Party’s (SP) MLA, Abu Azmi must be congratulated for
maintaining the honour of the national language by taking oath in
Hindi. As Azmi has respected the national language entire nation will
and must honour him for taking oath in Hindi.
Unfortunately this is an attack on the national language and it is
high time for the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to
realize that they were squarely responsible for giving birth to
trouble maker elements like MNS, and now the time has come to act
tough. In times of appalling terrorism, the political violence for
vote-bank politics, is extremely despicable that we have to deal with
insane anti-social elements like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)
and its founder chief Raj Thackeray. The ‘new’ Sena is an indisputable
threat to the integrity of the Union of India with its
unconstitutional, undemocratic approach to the promotion of its
ideology, which for all intents and purposes, is absolute rubbish.
The inaction of the Congress-NCP government has already helped the MNS
gain decent political mileage and the cause of the Marathi manoos will
only pick up pace unless more rigorous steps are taken – the first
being, a complete Centre-enforced ban on the MNS and its activists.
The issuance of a gag order on Thackeray was also needed, as is some
stringent regulation of the media reporting on him and his malevolent
politics. With his devilish charm and wicked intent, such a man can
only cause more havoc with his baseless speeches and grandiose
misdirection of the Marathi youth. It’s best if he is isolated in
terms of his reach within the mainstream media. The MNS are a bunch of
hoodlums, whatever you say.
They have little concern or respect for the concept of a sovereign
India and would be willing to go to any extent to do what they intend
to do. With their commitment to such ridiculous acts of violence in
the past as the beating up of Railway Recruitment Board exam
applicants in Mumbai and Thackeray’s daring rhetoric against the state
government and the police, one can only wonder why the rule of law had
become a mute spectator in the face of such parochially divisive
politics in a state that has produced the likes of B.R Ambedkar, Lata
Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar.
What should make us more apprehensive is that such anti-India forces
have a tremendous impact on the minds of the people, especially the
locals. Raj is hated throughout the outline of India, but he has his
own support and the concept could produce future leaders who see some
logic that the majority of us don’t, in the cause.
The coverage offered by the media can also be criticized, to a certain
extent. Raj has been portrayed as the moral guardian of the Marathi
cause, but what we as Indians should realize is that a regional cause
does not exist and our democracy is THE only honorable cause. The
impact of Thackeray’s politics will bear heavy on the liberal locals.
Marathi intellectuals should come out and shun his words if they have
any modern sense of opinion. The loss of face that Marathis will have
to face everywhere around the country and the world will be colossal,
if the MNS continues to reign supreme.
The rule of law should have been implemented in a time-bound frame and
not as a show of secession to political pressure from the Centre.
Ideally, action should have been taken a long time ago. It’s time
Thackeray learnt a thing or two from his fellow ‘local’. When
Tendulkar was asked by a TV journalist about how proud he was to be a
Marathi in the wake of him becoming the highest run-getter in Test
cricket, he fittingly replied: I am an Indian first. Yes, it’s true
that I am proud of my state and my roots. But more than anything, I’m
proud to have played for India.
Thackeray, on the other hand, seems to be telling us only one thing -
Me Marathi, You Indian. What is Centre waiting for? To make the worse
to happen why not to confine them in starting? Today they opposed
Hindi, the language of the nation tomorrow they can stop from flouring
the national flag and so on and if not check one day they may ask for
creation of a country with the country. This is nothing but Gundagiri.
MNS should be banned with immediate effect and all the losses incurred
to the public property should be recovered from Raj Thackre. The
hooliganism will never and should not be tolerated, what the MNS
leaders have done is not at all justified, rather it is condemnable
and such political outfits should be banned at once without giving a
second thought to it.
Ajmer Alam Wani
Journalist (Accredited)
Managing Editor, Kattu Satya, (English daily,
Jammu).
http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/20698/140/
chhotemianinshallah
STAFF WRITER 17:49 HRS IST
Mumbai, Dec 16 (PTI) After Maharashtra assembly officials refused to
give him legislature agenda in Hindi, Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim
Azmi today said he would approach the Supreme Court on the issue.
"The assembly secretary has refused to give me the assembly programme
in Hindi. So I would approach the Supreme Court in some days for
getting the programme in Hindi along with Marathi," Azmi told
reporters here.
Azmi had written a letter to the Principal Secretary of the state
legislature demanding the assembly agenda in Hindi instead of English
during the last session of the legislature.
"English is a foreign language and Hindi is our national language. The
Assembly should provide me material in Hindi," he said.
However, with no provision in Legislature for Hindi programme, his
demand was rejected.
Azmi said it would also take the matter with Commission and Committee
of Parliament on Official Languages.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/426683_Azmi-to-approach-SC-on-use-of-Hindi-in-Maha-assembly
chhotemianinshallah
Press Trust Of India
Mumbai, December 18, 2009
First Published: 19:25 IST(18/12/2009)
Last Updated: 19:26 IST(18/12/2009)
Pressing for his party's demand on employing 'sons of soil', MNS chief
Raj Thackeray has warned the Post Master General to give priority to
locals for the post office jobs or else cancel the recruitment
procedure.
"Vacancies in Maharashtra post offices should be filled by local
people only. It will give justice to them and influx of outsiders can
be controlled," Raj said in a letter written to Post Master General, M
S Bali.
Objecting to an advertisement published on October 23 about vacancies
of postmen in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai in national newspapers,
Raj said this encouraged lakhs of outsiders to apply.
"Lakhs of applications have been received for the posts from across
the nation due to advertisement published in national newspapers for
local jobs," Raj said, adding, "the same advertisement could have been
given in local papers."
On the recruitment norms, Raj said, "the post office manual says the
applicant should be 10th standard pass with knowledge of the state
language which is Marathi in this case.
"However, the advertisement said that knowledge of local language is
desirable, which means applicants should know any local language, not
necessarily Marathi," he said.
Raj also claimed that about 50,000 outsiders have applied for the job
and the whole recruitment process should be cancelled by the post
office.
Sid Harth
Hetal Vyas / DNA
Saturday, December 19, 2009 2:11 IST
Mumbai: A full bench of three judges of the Bombay high court will now
decide whether all the documents written in Marathi and submitted to
the high court should be accompanied by their English translation or
not.
After two division benches differed in their rulings on the issue
between 2006 and 2009, a full bench has been appointed for a final
decision on the issue.
A division bench of justice FI Rebello and justice RM Sawant, while
hearing a case related to admissions in medical colleges in May 2006,
had ruled that not Marathi, but English is the official language of
the high court, and hence, the Marathi documents annexed to the
petitions should be translated into English.
Justice Rebello had in a landmark judgment ruled that even under the
constitution of India the official language of all the high courts and
the Supreme Court is English. The appellate side rules also make use
of English mandatory in documentation.
In March 2009, a division bench of justice SB Mhase and justice DG
Karnik, however, had ruled that the local language should be given
importance in the justice delivery system. Justice Mhase had ruled
that "justice delivery system should be easily accessible to
citizens," and "justice should be delivered at the lowest possible
cost."
The full bench of justice BH Marlapalle, justice AM Khanwilkar and
justice RY Ganoo has now appointed senior counsel Rafiq Dada as Amicus
Curiae (friend of court). Dada will now help the court to decide the
issue in finality.
chhotemianinshallah
By: Varun Singh Date: 2009-12-19 Place: Mumbai
MNS MLA also exhorts Marathi builders to accept resultant losses
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is taking its 'Marathi manoos'
welfare agenda a step further.
The Maharashtrian Builders Association, a lobby of exclusively Marathi
builders, met at the Matunga Gymkhana last night.
Before the meeting began, expelled MNS MLA Ram Kadam said the agenda
would be allocating houses for the Marathi manoos within city limits.
"Marathi Manoos of Mumbai have to be housed in the city, they should
not have to go to Kalyan, Thane or Dombivli. We need houses for the
people of the city.
I will ask the builders attending the conference to make houses for
the aam Marathi aadmi," said Kadam, who is also a builder.
Expelled MNS MLA Ram Kadam wants Marathi manoos to be accommodated
within city limits
Community Welfare
A majority of the Marathi population, however, lives in chawls in
Lalbaug, Parel, Chinchpokli and old buildings in Dadar, Girgaum and
other central areas.
Though construction is on the upswing in these areas, the apartments
are unaffordable for the populace.
Said Kadam, "Finance won't be a problem, if the builders allot every
Marathi manoos a house in Mumbai at cheap rates. The builders should
work for the welfare of the community and manage the losses."
Suresh Haware, president of the builders' association and owner,
Haware Builders, said before the start of the meeting, "Most Marathi
builders are first-time businessmen.
We want to groom them and make them aware of how to grow their
business." At the time of going to press, the meeting had not yet come
to an end.
http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/dec/191209-MNS-MLA-Ram-Kadam-Marathi-manoos.htm
bademiyansubhanallah
No alternative to mother tongue
JS Rajput
Language learning has been a tricky issue for our educators,
especially after independence. The three-language formula has not been
implemented uniformly to the satisfaction of one and all. The formula
rightly envisaged primary education through a child’s mother tongue.
Later, one modern Indian language and English were to be introduced at
an appropriate stage. Hindi-speaking States could not arrange for the
teaching of modern Indian languages other than Hindi, whereas, certain
southern States expressed their reservations about what they called
‘Hindi hegemony’. The only trend that has flourished uniformly over
the years is the pursuit among parents to get their child admitted in
English-medium schools. The general perception is that a good and
successful life awaits only those who obtain their education through
such schools. And this is not far from the truth.
The latest survey reports and trends indicate a 150 per cent growth in
the number of primary students in India getting their education in
English-medium schools for the period 2005-06 to 2008-09. Trends also
suggest an increase in the number of schools imparting education in
English on a geographical spread. In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu,
almost one-fifth of the total number of enrolled students are educated
through the English language. Haryana, on the other hand, has recorded
the highest growth rate as the number of children in English-medium
schools has gone up by more than seven times in the last four years.
The surveys also indicate that the actual number of those learning
through English medium right from class one might be far higher than
what is estimated as there are thousands of unrecognised schools
spread all over the country.
Everywhere, including small towns and villages, there is a race for
opening English-medium schools. They ensure high rates of return with
no possibility of a meltdown. India is in the grip of a great
transition. It is not an issue that pertains to Hindi and English or
Hindi and other regional languages. As far as education is concerned,
the language of learning is English, English and English!
The dominating trend among the youth at present is to aspire for jobs
in multi-national companies in India or abroad. There are genuine
economic reasons for this. Business Process Outsourcing companies are
advertised as the finest employment option for youth from middle-class
backgrounds, particularly so from small towns and cities. Heads of
management institutes have the major task of ensuring that their
students are taught English properly so that they are prepared for the
toughest of job interviews. This will enable them to impress their
prospective employers. Other skills, they say, could be learnt later!
Without proficiency in English, every young person faces a serious
disadvantage in the job market, including in Government jobs.
An interaction with youngsters in a district town in Uttar Pradesh or
Bihar is enough to gauge how demoralised the youth get if they miss
the opportunity to learn English in a convent or public school. No
parent wishes to be blamed for the misfortune of his or her child.
Wherever possible, parents make every effort to get their sons and
daughters admitted in English-medium schools. The education gap
between the elite and the rest has been growing alarmingly. The elite
are happy with the existing arrangement. But the neglected have
resigned themselves to their fate. The quality of education in sarkari
schools shows no signs of improving.
There are numerous examples of nations that can compete with the West
in the field of science and technology on an equal footing. Have
China, Russia (erstwhile USSR) or Japan lagged behind on any count
because of the primacy they have given to their mother tongues? When
the Russians sent their Sputnik satellites into space ahead of the US,
the Americans were greatly demoralised. The Russians also had their
own journals on high scientific research. In fact, it was the West
that had to arrange for these journals to be translated into English
and published for the benefit of its scientific community.
China is often quoted in the Indian media as having launched a massive
programme of learning English. No one reports that it has not
discarded the practice of imparting primary education through the
mother tongue. But the Indian system, by encouraging English in all
sectors, is fast discarding the basic pedagogical principle that no
child should be burdened with an alien language in the initial years.
Children can learn more languages with considerable ease as they grow
older.
Mahatma Gandhi, who could communicate in several languages, had this
to say in Young India, dated September 21, 1921: “The foreign medium
has caused brain fag, put an undue strain upon the nerves of our
children, made them crammers and imitators, unfitted them for original
work and thoughts, and disabled them for filtrating their learning to
the family or the masses. The foreign medium has made our children
practically foreigners in their own land. It is the greatest tragedy
of the existing system. The foreign medium has prevented the growth of
our vernaculars. If I had the powers of a despot, I would today stop
the tuition of our boys and girls through a foreign medium, and
require all the teachers and professors on the pain of dismissal to
introduce the change forthwith. I would not wait for the preparation
of textbooks. They will follow the change. It is an evil that needs a
summary remedy.”
Mother tongue as the medium of instruction is critical for a
meaningful beginning to a child’s education. It is also important for
a child’s emotional, cognitive and social development. Education in
mother tongue alone establishes continuity between home and school
environment. It is essential for proper learning of other languages as
well. The seeds of independent thinking, free and effective expression
of opinions and logical interpretation of present and past events are
sown only through the mother tongue. There is no pedagogically
acceptable alternative. But unfortunately, little attention is being
paid to this aspect of education.
While addressing a congregation of over 500 enlightened citizens in
Akola in 2006, a question was posed, “In Maharashtra, Marathi is
getting neglected and English is spreading all around. If you are
given all the authority and power, what would you do to stop this
proliferation of English?” There was total silence in the auditorium.
The response after a quiet pause was, “I would do nothing to stop the
spread of English. I would use all my powers to strengthen Marathi in
all respects everywhere and in every direction.” The deafening
applause that followed indicated total approval for the approach. This
is the direction in which India needs to move in the years ahead.
COMMENTS BOARD ::
Education in mother tongue
By Ravi Nathani on 12/19/2009 3:25:26 PM
Rajput is on the dot. The quote by Mahatma Gandhi was so correct, then
and is even now. It would not be wrong to call the independence
achieved in 1947 as merely 'Physical'. We continue to be mentally
enslaved. Not that knowledge of english is wrong. But if it is coming
at the cost of our mother tongue, it certainly is not correct. All
languages are great - so are so many of our Indian languages. Swami
Vivekananda had said' Culture flows thru language'.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/223657/No-alternative-to-mother-tongue.html
Sid Harth
PTI Sunday, December 20, 2009 16:31 IST
New Delhi: A panel, which recommended reservation for Muslims and
other minorities in government jobs, has advocated implementation of a
three-language formula all over the country for welfare of linguistic
minorities.
The five-member National Commission for Religious and Linguistic
Minorities headed by former chief justice of India Ranganath Mishra
said, "The three-language formula should be implemented everywhere in
the country making it compulsory for the authorities to include in it
the mother tongue of every child - including especially Urdu and
Punjabi."
"All necessary facilities, financial and logistic should be provided
by the state for education in accordance with this dispensation," it
said.
The Commission made the observation while recommending measures for
the welfare and uplift of linguistic minorities.
It noted "those linguistic minority groups, who keep their education
restricted to their own language are often handicapped in the matter
of competing with others in respect of educational development and
economic advancement."
The Commission said, "members of those linguistic minority groups,
whose education is limited to their mother tongue and who do not have
adequate knowledge of the majority language of the region should be
provided special facilities in form of scholarship, fee concession and
lower eligibility criteria for admission to enable them to acquire
proficiency in the regionally dominant language".