Click to play videoMaharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray is sorry for the death of a man in violence by his party workers in Nashik but he takes no blame for the incident.
Raj, who is on bail after being charged with promoting hatred among groups, instead blames “ant-social” elements for the death. “I would like to personally apologise for the death of this person to his family with folded hands. We will ensure that Marathi Manoos (Marathi person) never suffer in any of our agitations in the future," Raj said on Thursday.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited employee Ambadas Haribhau Dharrao was killed in Nashik on Thursday when MNS workers pelted a bus he was travelling in.
Dharrao’s relatives blame politicians for his death. His brother Madhukar Dharrao, speaking from Niphad village in Maharashtra, told CNN-IBN that common people are being hurt by politics in which they have no role. Common people trying to make a living don’t really care whether neighbour is from north India or some place else, said Madhukar.
“Live and let live and leave us in peace,” said Madhukar when asked what he felt about politicians.
Has Raj, the self-proclaimed protector of Maharashtrians, hurt his image because of Dharrao’s death? Who is to blame for the tears of Dharrao’s family and friends? Why do common people have to pay for divisive politics of their leaders?
CNN-IBN’s Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai raised these questions on a show with writer Kiran Nagarkar and Sandeep Deshpande, vice-president of MNS’s student wing.
“Our notion of self-respect or asmita has gone completely haywire. If you consider the Maharashtrian legacy of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Jyotiba Phule and other people then you would realize what fine values they were and that is where self esteem should lie,” said Nagarkar.
“But now self-esteem seems to lie in violence. The only form of dialogue that seems possible now is violence—this in the land of Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi.”
Raj’s argument that Marathi culture is under threat from immigrants and “outsiders” has a struck chord with many Maharashtrians. How Nagarkar respond to that argument?
“If Maharashtrian culture is so weak that it is threatened by such small things then god help us. Let this be very clear: Maharashtrian culture is a mix of all cultures in this country. Our philosophy should be of inclusion and not exclusion,” said Nagarkar.
Deshpande denied that Dharrao died because of his party workers. “MNS workers can never kill a Marathi Manoos and we have already said that,” he said.
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