Fear and Loathing in Mumbai

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Watching the images of innocent taxi drivers, street vendors, and commuters being attacked by MNS activists I could only think that while Raj Thackeray and his supporters have instilled fear in the hearts and minds of North Indians living in Mumbai, they may get more than they bargained for. They have sown the seeds of the deepest resentment, loathing, and discontentment. The humiliation meted out by Thackeray and his ilk will not soon be forgotten, not just by their victims, but by every non-Maharashtrian living in the city.

What Mumbaikars prize more than anything else about their city, is the ability to step out at any hour, unmolested, and roam the city unharmed. I can go as far as saying, there is an implicit system of trust. In a city peopled by millions, where rules of segregation and separation simply cannot apply in the way they do in other parts of the country, this trust is invaluable. Make no mistake, it is neither blind nor does it stem from any noble sentiments. It is rather, a function of convenience. We Mumbaikars put it to the test everyday in our trains and buses. One of the requirements of commerce is commuting to one's workplace, and one of the prerequisites of this crowded, sweaty, ride is co-existence, if not congeniality. When the most pressing concern is simply to get a seat, it seems immaterial who is sitting next to you, and when you have to push to alight at the correct destination, it makes little difference who's hand is in the small of your back.

Thackeray and his MNS goons have chipped away at that confidence. When I take a taxi alone , or at night in Mumbai, I trust that I will get home safe. The next time that I, or any other Mumbaikar takes a cab ride, that trust will be lessened on both sides. What will the taxi driver look at me and see? A privileged person with the rights he doesn't have, the means he doesn't have, and the basic dignity he was denied. Worse still, he may see me as part of the group that denies him his rights, grudges him his livelihood, and threatens his safety. And would he be entirely wrong? All we did was stand by and watch as the 'Raj Sena' went on rampage.

Over the years, Mumbai has learned to live in fear. During the worst chapter of our collective history, the riots of '92-'93, the entire city cowered indoors. Those that did not fled. It took years for us to slowly limp back to normalcy. We may not have had another communal outbreak since then, but it only takes some instability elsewhere in the country to put us on high alert. When Gujarat 2002 was over, we congratulated ourselves for our tolerance, but during the carnage, did we not eye our neighbours with suspicion and fear? When the Shiv Sena calls for a bandh, the entire city grinds to a halt. Shopkeepers that refuse to down their shutters are pelted with stones, and their stalls razed to the ground. When rumour had it that Bal Thackeray was about to get arrested the panic spread so fast that the mobile networks crashed, businesses and schools speedily closed, and once again, Mumbai locked and bolted its doors.

But how much longer before the force of resentment blows the lid off this issue that Mumbaikars have been trying unsuccessfully to live with or ignore? Our lock and bolts did not protect us fifteen years ago, and though the causes are different the hatred and mistrust some sections are promoting is the same.

And what of Thackeray, the real hand behind the blows? For most Mumbaikars, his behaviour is surprising to say the least. When he launched the MNS, he had positioned himself as the voice of progress, strength and stability. The leading newspapers carried adverts which featured a pensive Raj, presumably to convince people that this was the thinking leader, trustworthy and having the necessary 'gravitas'. But Raj, fancied by some as more presentable, more charismatic, and acceptable than his cousin Uddhav, failed in his attempts at capturing votes. And so, he decided to re-open an old can of worms, targeting the most vulnerable, and visible section of 'outsiders' in the city.

On many taxi rides through Mumbai, I've had the chance to converse with the people behind the wheel. Wherever they come from, they speak of their homes with some longing. I've heard some wistful stories of fallow villages along the Ganges, of how the monsoon flood submerges them, how the crops failed, or the cattle died. These are not people who chose to come to Mumbai to live miserable lives, pay extortionate rents for tiny slum spaces, or sleep atop the dickeys of their fiat taxis. These are people bound by circumstance to leave their homes, and survive in a hostile, thankless city that rains blows on them for working in jobs that are far from enviable, or aspirational.

The MNS says it has no problem with Gujaratis, Sindhis, Parsis and that it lives with them in peace. But the implication is, and always has been, that we live under the blanket of security that they chose to provide. The hand that is now paternally positioned over our heads, can just as easily deal a blow. It is upto us to embrace or eschew that protection. Because sooner or later, what Thackeray and his MNS are sowing, you and I, and Mumbai will reap.