Raj Thackeray’s Latest Target: Dance Bars

On the night of August 2, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray gave a speech where he railed against dance bars and soon after, in a place called Panvel in the outskirts of Mumbai, a bunch of his party workers got together, turned into a mob, and headed to a dance bar called Night Riders and vandalised it. The police have booked cases against 15 men but nothing will happen because this is how politics have always been played in the state.

Thackeray and his party have been known to target migrants from the Hindi belt, taxi and auto drivers, Muslims and lately against those who would not speak Marathi. All this comes under the umbrella of a Maharashtra- and Maharashtrians-first ideology. A dance bar was an unusual new entry to the list but their very presence in Raigad, the capital of Chhatrapati Shivaji, according to his speech, was an offence to Maharashtra’s dignity. Many, he said, were owned by non-Marathi speaking people.  That was the cue for MNS workers to go on the rampage.

It was probably not spontaneous because by a curious turn of circumstances MNS which had touched its nadir in the state’s politics got a fresh lease of life when the state government in April instituted a policy of making Hindi mandatory among some sections of schools. Thackeray spotted an opportunity and began an agitation. And fortuitously, his cousin Uddhav Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) was also slipping to irrelevance and  joined forces. The two who couldn’t stand each other were suddenly allies and presented an undivided Thackeray brand, which still has heft. They succeeded in getting the policy reversed.

There have since been a number of violent attacks by workers of both parties in recent times, most against people who didn’t speak Marathi in the wake of the anti-Hindi agitation. And they have all gone viral on social media and made headlines just as the dance bar vandalisation providing further incentive to both parties.

And chances are there will be more such events because the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election is round the corner and winning it would be just what the Thackerays need to get back to centrestage in the state’s politics.

anti-Hindi agitationBMC electionsdance bar vandalismMaharashtra politicsMarathi identityMNSNight RidersPanvelPolitical violenceRaj ThackerayShiv SenaUddhav Thackeray