Hate speech: Raj Thackeray gets Shiv Sena backing, dragged to court

Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's reference to Biharis living in Mumbai as 'infiltrators' has invited charges of hate speech. A case has been filed against the MNS chief in the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court in Nalanda.

However, in a positive development for Raj Thackeray, there are signs of a thaw between him and his uncle Bal Thackeray with a Shiv Sena editorial referring to the increasing criticism against the MNS chief for his tirades against Bihari immigrants.

The case against Raj Thackeray in the Nalanda court was filed by a social activist Biresh Pandey, who submitted that the people of Bihar felt insulted and their sentiments were hurt by Thackeray's recent speech in which he had described Mumbai-based Biharis as infiltrators and threatened to drive them out of the city.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accused the Congress of outsourcing the governance to the MNS in Maharashtra.

Pandey said the MNS chief's provocative speech could vitiate peace and communal amity and cause discord among the people.

This came hours after Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray came out in support of his nephew saying the arrest of the man who vandalised the Amar Jawan Jyoti during the Azad Maidan violence earlier last month was a correct step and that Bihar was wrong to threaten legal proceedings against the Mumbai Police.

However, the MNS chief also faced opposition over his infiltrator remarks as Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that people had the right to seek employment anywhere in the country.

"Everybody has a right to go anywhere and seek employment," he told reporters outside Parliament House.

On Thackeray targeting certain news channels, he said, "It is not fair to target media. At times media criticises people and it should be accepted."

Amidst the tussle between the Union Home Minister and the MNS chief, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took the opportunity to attack the Congress-led Maharashtra government accusing it of "outsourcing governance" to the MNS chief.

"What can we do if Congress has outsourced governance to Thackeray," Kumar said and regretted lack of options with him to deal with the MNS chief for his provocative speech.

(With Additional Inputs from PTI)

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