Marathi nationalism
Encyclopedia
Marathi nationalism or regionalism refers to a nationalist stance applied to Maharashtra
and the Indo-Aryan
ethnic Marathi people
who inhabit the ethno-linguistic region of Maharashtra
, which was created after the linguistic reorganization of provinces
in India
in 1956. Ramdas is considered as the Spiritual Father of Maratha nationalism and Shivaji was its political promoter. Hindavi Swarajya
was an ideology espoused by Shivaji to consolidate Maratha empire
by piecing together several marathi
speaking Deccan kingdoms. The defence of culture, country and religion were the war cry used by Shivaji to rally together Marathi Hindus. One of the famous saying of Shivaji was "This is not a kingdom of Shivaji; it belongs to Dharma" MAHA (महा, Great) RASHTRA (राष्ट्र , Country/State) is generally associated with a desire for greater, better and progressive state. The defence of Maratha culture, religion, country and freedom to the Marathas is what inspired the Maratha warriors in defeating Sultanate of Bijapur and Mughal Empire and free the marathas and there land from occupation and creation of the Maratha Empire. In modern context, it furthers the ideology of preservation of maratha culture, promotion of marathi language and progress of marathi people
. Mee Marathi (मी मराठी, I am Marathi ) are two words that have always inculcated Marathi pride.
were elucidated at least as early as the beginning of the twentieth century. However, Lokmanya Tilak merged this with a contemporaneously emerging pan-Indian nationalism during the build-up period to the Indian independence movement
.
Post-independence Marathi nationalism is a form of sub-nationalism. Proponents of Marathi nationalism today are most strongly represented by political parties such as the Shiv Sena
and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
, as well as pseudo-political outfits like the Sambhaji Brigade
.
After the Independence of India in 1947, regional administrative divisions from the colonial era were gradually changed and states following linguistic borders were created. Within the Bombay Presidency
a massive popular struggle was launched for the creation of a state for the Marathi-speaking people. In 1960 the presidency was divided into two linguistic states, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Moreover, Marathi-speaking areas of the erstwhile Hyderabad state
were joined with Maharashtra. Mumbai (then Bombay), the economic capital of India, became the state capital of Maharashtra. Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti
carried out the agitation for the creation of Maharashtra and the inclusion of Mumbai
in it.
and Alyque Padamsee
have said there is some legitimate grievance to give credence to some form of a Marathi nationalism. Padamsee thought that a "Marathi manoos is a good idea" as "nobody has given any importance to the language." Singh added that the political parties which bank on the support of the Marathi manoos do so rightly so "as they has been able to protect the interests of the Marathi-speaking population in the state." He added that "Maharashtrians have a justified grievance. Outsiders have not been able to identify with Marathi culture. Bhatt chipped in that he supports, in addition to the Marathi manoos "the whole Marathi
culture, the Maratha pride." Adding that "in the age of globalisation, that this culture is being overwhelmed. Let me give you an example: This city has been the source for thousands of Bollywood
films, but does anyone bother for the indigenous people, the local people of Film City, who are suffering?"
and Bihar
. There is also a recent movement towards compulsory use of Marathi language in Mumbai in places including the Municipal Corporation. This "Maharashtra for the Marathis" sub-nationalism or regionalism has been condemned by mainstream political parties such as Congress
and Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) and Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan
has assured protection for both North and South Indian immigrants. Much of such trouble has been created by the concept of Three language in Govt. of India. Three Language concept says that all offices of Govt. of India have to use Hindi, English and any other regional language. Regional languages are encouraged but at the same time use of Hindi and English is imposed on workers forcing them to learn additional languages. Class-iV workers find it difficult to learn additional languages while they can work efficiently in mother tongue Marathi
. At one point Marathi and Hindi share same grammar rules as they are derived from same ancestral language Sanskrit
. And one who knows Hindi can easily learn Marathi and vice-versa. This language war has been exploited several times and is used by several political parties to gain some easy hold on citizens and eventually hold on vote bank. For several years now, even use of English
is opposed by mainstream Marathi
nationalists which is always opposed by English speaking non-Marathi states.
, in many ways is an economic capital of India. In early 60's there was a increasing flow of South India
n white-collar job seeker migrants to the Mumbai city.
In 1960 Bal Thackeray
, a Mumbai-based cartoonist, began publishing the satirical cartoon weekly Marmik. Through this publication he started disseminating anti-migrant sentiments in support of local marathi workers. On June 19, 1966, Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena as a political organisation. At the time of its foundation, the Shiv Sena was not a political party as such. The political approach of the Shiv Sena was centred around the concept of bhumiputra (sons of the soil), the idea that Maharashtra inherently belonged to the Marathi community. The Shiv Sena was thus born out of a feeling of resentment about the relative marginilization of the native Marathi people in their own state by people whom they perceived as outsiders.
Shiv Sena set out ideological declarations which encouraged Maharashtrians not to eat in Udupi restaurants, not to sell their properties to non-Maharashtrians and Marathi businessmen employ only Marathis. The Shiv Sena especially attracted a large number of Marathi youth. Shiv Sena cadres became involved in various attacks against the South Indian communities, vandalising South Indian restaurants and pressuring employers to hire Marathis.
party was formed in 1966 to fight for the rights of the marathi people
. Thackeray started his political life by intimidating and sometimes attacking South Indians who worked as clerks and owned small restaurants as they were taking away local jobs.
South Indians were derisively referred to as yandugunduwalas and lunghiwalas.
South Indians were his main targets as he claimed that they were taking away jobs from Marathis. He lampooned "Madrassi
" in his writings and drawings. Udupi restaurants and homes of Tamil
and Telugu
speakers were attacked.
However other political parties in the state have been more conciliatory in their approach towards South Indians.
and Bihar
in Maharashtra began on February 3, 2008 after violent clashes between workers of two political parties—Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
(MNS) and Samajwadi Party
(SP)—at Dadar
in Mumbai, capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The clashes took place when workers of MNS, a splinter faction formed out of the Shiv Sena] (a major political party of Maharashtra), tried to attack workers of SP, the regional party based in Uttar Pradesh
, who were proceeding to attend a rally organised by the United National Progressive Alliance
(UNPA). Defending his party’s stand, MNS chief Raj Thackeray
explained that the attack was a reaction to the "provocative and unnecessary show of strength" and "uncontrolled political and cultural dadagiri (bullying) of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
migrants and their leaders".
headed by BJP-Shiv Sena alliance passed an order to make all communications only in Marathi. Marathi has been an official language in the corporation since 1971, however English and Hindi were used for distribution of information.
After his campaign against north Indians, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
(MNS) president Raj Thackeray
on 14 July 2008 asked English medium schools in the state to make Marathi a compulsory subject from first standard and shopowners to put up nameplates in Marathi. On 27 August 2008 around 50 activists of MNS were arrested in south Mumbai for forcing shopowners to put up Marathi nameplates instead of English signboards . Despite the arrest of the activists, MNS spokesperson Shirish Parkar warned that the protest will continue and that the deadline of August 28 will not change.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
and the Indo-Aryan
Indo-Aryans
Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...
ethnic Marathi people
Marathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...
who inhabit the ethno-linguistic region of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, which was created after the linguistic reorganization of provinces
States Reorganisation Act
The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries and governance of India's states and territories. The act reorganised the boundaries of India's states along linguistic lines, and amended the Indian Constitution to replace the three types of states, known as Parts A, B,...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in 1956. Ramdas is considered as the Spiritual Father of Maratha nationalism and Shivaji was its political promoter. Hindavi Swarajya
Hindavi Swarajya
Hindavi Swarajya is a term that has been used to describe movements seeking to remove external influences from India, including the Moghul and British empires....
was an ideology espoused by Shivaji to consolidate Maratha empire
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....
by piecing together several marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
speaking Deccan kingdoms. The defence of culture, country and religion were the war cry used by Shivaji to rally together Marathi Hindus. One of the famous saying of Shivaji was "This is not a kingdom of Shivaji; it belongs to Dharma" MAHA (महा, Great) RASHTRA (राष्ट्र , Country/State) is generally associated with a desire for greater, better and progressive state. The defence of Maratha culture, religion, country and freedom to the Marathas is what inspired the Maratha warriors in defeating Sultanate of Bijapur and Mughal Empire and free the marathas and there land from occupation and creation of the Maratha Empire. In modern context, it furthers the ideology of preservation of maratha culture, promotion of marathi language and progress of marathi people
Marathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...
. Mee Marathi (मी मराठी, I am Marathi ) are two words that have always inculcated Marathi pride.
History
The first strands of a modern Marathi nationalismNationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
were elucidated at least as early as the beginning of the twentieth century. However, Lokmanya Tilak merged this with a contemporaneously emerging pan-Indian nationalism during the build-up period to the Indian independence movement
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
.
Post-independence Marathi nationalism is a form of sub-nationalism. Proponents of Marathi nationalism today are most strongly represented by political parties such as the Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena , is a political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray...
and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a political party based in Maharashtra operating on the motto of "Sons of the Soil". It was founded on the March 9, 2006 in Mumbai by Raj Thackeray after he left the Shiv Sena due to differences with Uddhav Thackeray and sidelining in major decisions like...
, as well as pseudo-political outfits like the Sambhaji Brigade
Sambhaji Brigade
Sambhaji Brigade is a bahujan organization in the state of Maharashtra, India. The organization is named after Sambhaji, son of the first Maratha king Shivaji.-History:...
.
After the Independence of India in 1947, regional administrative divisions from the colonial era were gradually changed and states following linguistic borders were created. Within the Bombay Presidency
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...
a massive popular struggle was launched for the creation of a state for the Marathi-speaking people. In 1960 the presidency was divided into two linguistic states, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Moreover, Marathi-speaking areas of the erstwhile Hyderabad state
Hyderabad State
-After Indian independence :When India gained independence in 1947 and Pakistan came into existence in 1947, the British left the local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one of the new dominions or to remain independent...
were joined with Maharashtra. Mumbai (then Bombay), the economic capital of India, became the state capital of Maharashtra. Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti
Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti
http://ekmarathimanoos.blogspot.com/2009/01/belgaum-border-dispute-bleeding-wound.htmlSanyukta Maharashtra Samiti , roughly translated as United Maharashtra Committee, was an organisation that spearheaded the demand in the 1950s for the creation of a separate Marathi-speaking state out of the ...
carried out the agitation for the creation of Maharashtra and the inclusion of Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
in it.
Rallying points
Modern-day Marathi nationalism has found an idealogue in the Hindu Maratha Empire, an independent Maratha nation established by Maratha warrior and King Shivaji Bhosle after he defeated the Sultanate of Bijapur to free the Marathas and there land from occupation. Shivaji's call for freedom and to fight and live like free men was an inspiration to the marathi people which not only help protect the Maratha Kingdom from the Mughal Empire but also led to the expanision of the Maratha Kingdom into Maratha Empire by capturing non-maratha parts of the Mughal Empire.Support for Marathi nationalism from non-Marathi people
MN Singh, Mahesh BhattMahesh Bhatt
Mahesh Bhatt , is a prominent Indian film director, producer and screenwriter.Bhatt's early directional career consisted of acclaimed films, such as Arth, Saaransh, Janam, Naam and Zakhm....
and Alyque Padamsee
Alyque Padamsee
Alyque Padamsee is an Indian theater personality and ad film maker. He is probably best known in the English-speaking world for playing Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the film Gandhi...
have said there is some legitimate grievance to give credence to some form of a Marathi nationalism. Padamsee thought that a "Marathi manoos is a good idea" as "nobody has given any importance to the language." Singh added that the political parties which bank on the support of the Marathi manoos do so rightly so "as they has been able to protect the interests of the Marathi-speaking population in the state." He added that "Maharashtrians have a justified grievance. Outsiders have not been able to identify with Marathi culture. Bhatt chipped in that he supports, in addition to the Marathi manoos "the whole Marathi
Marathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...
culture, the Maratha pride." Adding that "in the age of globalisation, that this culture is being overwhelmed. Let me give you an example: This city has been the source for thousands of Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
films, but does anyone bother for the indigenous people, the local people of Film City, who are suffering?"
Contemporary sub-nationalism
In the past few decades, Mumbai and sometimes larger Maharashtra have witnessed a growing resentment towards South Indians and recently towards migrants from Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
. There is also a recent movement towards compulsory use of Marathi language in Mumbai in places including the Municipal Corporation. This "Maharashtra for the Marathis" sub-nationalism or regionalism has been condemned by mainstream political parties such as Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
and Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
(BJP) and Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan
Ashok Chavan
Ashok Shankarrao Chavan was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Chavan was sworn in on 8 December 2008, after his political party, the Indian National Congress and Vilasrao Deshmukh selected him to be Vilasrao Deshmukh's successor on 5 December 2008. He earlier served as Minister for Cultural...
has assured protection for both North and South Indian immigrants. Much of such trouble has been created by the concept of Three language in Govt. of India. Three Language concept says that all offices of Govt. of India have to use Hindi, English and any other regional language. Regional languages are encouraged but at the same time use of Hindi and English is imposed on workers forcing them to learn additional languages. Class-iV workers find it difficult to learn additional languages while they can work efficiently in mother tongue Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
. At one point Marathi and Hindi share same grammar rules as they are derived from same ancestral language Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
. And one who knows Hindi can easily learn Marathi and vice-versa. This language war has been exploited several times and is used by several political parties to gain some easy hold on citizens and eventually hold on vote bank. For several years now, even use of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
is opposed by mainstream Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
nationalists which is always opposed by English speaking non-Marathi states.
Support for Marathi Workers
MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, in many ways is an economic capital of India. In early 60's there was a increasing flow of South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
n white-collar job seeker migrants to the Mumbai city.
In 1960 Bal Thackeray
Bal Thackeray
Bal Keshav Thackeray , popularly known as Balasaheb Thackeray, is an Indian politician, founder and chief of the Shiv Sena, a right-wing Hindu nationalist, and Marathi ethnocentric party active mainly in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.Born in Pune, Thackeray began his professional career...
, a Mumbai-based cartoonist, began publishing the satirical cartoon weekly Marmik. Through this publication he started disseminating anti-migrant sentiments in support of local marathi workers. On June 19, 1966, Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena as a political organisation. At the time of its foundation, the Shiv Sena was not a political party as such. The political approach of the Shiv Sena was centred around the concept of bhumiputra (sons of the soil), the idea that Maharashtra inherently belonged to the Marathi community. The Shiv Sena was thus born out of a feeling of resentment about the relative marginilization of the native Marathi people in their own state by people whom they perceived as outsiders.
Shiv Sena set out ideological declarations which encouraged Maharashtrians not to eat in Udupi restaurants, not to sell their properties to non-Maharashtrians and Marathi businessmen employ only Marathis. The Shiv Sena especially attracted a large number of Marathi youth. Shiv Sena cadres became involved in various attacks against the South Indian communities, vandalising South Indian restaurants and pressuring employers to hire Marathis.
Attacks on South Indian migrated workers
Shiv SenaShiv Sena
Shiv Sena , is a political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray...
party was formed in 1966 to fight for the rights of the marathi people
Marathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...
. Thackeray started his political life by intimidating and sometimes attacking South Indians who worked as clerks and owned small restaurants as they were taking away local jobs.
South Indians were derisively referred to as yandugunduwalas and lunghiwalas.
South Indians were his main targets as he claimed that they were taking away jobs from Marathis. He lampooned "Madrassi
Madrassi
Madrassi or Madrasi is an ethnic slur used for people of South India, mostly by people of western, central and northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The term originated during the British Raj to designate people from the southern parts of India which were then in the Madras Presidency...
" in his writings and drawings. Udupi restaurants and homes of Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
speakers were attacked.
However other political parties in the state have been more conciliatory in their approach towards South Indians.
Attack on migrated workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
The attacks on immigrants from Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
in Maharashtra began on February 3, 2008 after violent clashes between workers of two political parties—Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a political party based in Maharashtra operating on the motto of "Sons of the Soil". It was founded on the March 9, 2006 in Mumbai by Raj Thackeray after he left the Shiv Sena due to differences with Uddhav Thackeray and sidelining in major decisions like...
(MNS) and Samajwadi Party
Samajwadi Party
Samajwadi Party is a political party in India. It is based in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It describes itself as a democratic socialist party...
(SP)—at Dadar
Dadar
Dadar is a place in Mumbai, and is also a railway station on both the Western and Central lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Dadar is situated in the heart of Mumbai, and Dadar station is the only railway station common to both the Central and Western lines...
in Mumbai, capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The clashes took place when workers of MNS, a splinter faction formed out of the Shiv Sena] (a major political party of Maharashtra), tried to attack workers of SP, the regional party based in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, who were proceeding to attend a rally organised by the United National Progressive Alliance
United National Progressive Alliance
Sometimes known as the Third Front. For the Third Front in power between 1996 and 1998, see United Front . For the Third Front in power between 1989 and 1991, see National Front ....
(UNPA). Defending his party’s stand, MNS chief Raj Thackeray
Raj Thackeray
Raj Shrikant Thackeray is the founder and president of the right-wing Marathi ethnocentric regional political party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the state of Maharashtra, India...
explained that the attack was a reaction to the "provocative and unnecessary show of strength" and "uncontrolled political and cultural dadagiri (bullying) of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
migrants and their leaders".
Promotion of Marathi and Anti-English Sentiments
In a growing movement towards promoting Marathi in public life in Mumbai, Municipal Corporation of Greater MumbaiMunicipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai
The Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika is the civic body that governs the city of Mumbai and is India's richest municipal organisation. Its annual budget is even more than that of some of the small states of India. It is also known as Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai or the Brihanmumbai...
headed by BJP-Shiv Sena alliance passed an order to make all communications only in Marathi. Marathi has been an official language in the corporation since 1971, however English and Hindi were used for distribution of information.
After his campaign against north Indians, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a political party based in Maharashtra operating on the motto of "Sons of the Soil". It was founded on the March 9, 2006 in Mumbai by Raj Thackeray after he left the Shiv Sena due to differences with Uddhav Thackeray and sidelining in major decisions like...
(MNS) president Raj Thackeray
Raj Thackeray
Raj Shrikant Thackeray is the founder and president of the right-wing Marathi ethnocentric regional political party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the state of Maharashtra, India...
on 14 July 2008 asked English medium schools in the state to make Marathi a compulsory subject from first standard and shopowners to put up nameplates in Marathi. On 27 August 2008 around 50 activists of MNS were arrested in south Mumbai for forcing shopowners to put up Marathi nameplates instead of English signboards . Despite the arrest of the activists, MNS spokesperson Shirish Parkar warned that the protest will continue and that the deadline of August 28 will not change.