Mumbai, 29 November 2014

Anti-Gujarati mindset of political parties in Maharashtra and espcially in Mumbai is more and more visible these days.

Last week, ruling Shiv Sena passed a motion in Mumbai Municipal Corporation with support of Raj Thackeray led MNS and Congress that those who refuse to sell flat/house to non-vegetarian buyer will face action. BJP opposed this motion while Sharad Pawar led NCP remained nutral. Though this motion has been passed, it is Municipal Commissioner who has to give it approval considering legal issues involved. In year 2005, the Supreme Court had in one case observed that if some person’s regligious sentiments are hurt, or he/she thinks that giving space to non-vegetarian person creates disturbance, he has right to say him no. In another case when Delhi’s Sahyadri cooperative society refused housing to non-Marathi persons, Delhi High Court had given its verdict against society.

The motion will also need approval of state urban development department.

It should be noted that Jain, Vaishnav, Brahmin, Swaminarayan, Patel etc Gujarati communities don’t consume non-veg and they prefer to sell house/flat in societies to vegetarian persons only. As most of the Marathi are non-veg eater, Shiv Sena, MNS and Congress want to position this issue as Gujarati vs Marathi. These three parties have lost assembly elections due to BJP led by two Gujarati leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah. For political gains, now Shiv Sena, MNS and Congress want Marathi people to get angry against Gujaratis.

Congress MLA Nitesh Rane who frequently tweets against Gujarat and Gujaratis recently passed derogatory comments against Gujarati community. Couple of days back, the Bombay High Court on a public interest litigation asked he Maharashtra government to file a status report on the probe into allegedly derogatory comments made by Nitesh against the Gujarati community.The court has asked the state government to file affidavit within two weeks on the probe status.A complaint was lodged against them at the Khar police station, but police took no action because of Ranes’ political clout, the PIL said, demanding a probe by CBI or any other independent agency. The probe has been assigned to CID(Crime) yesterday.

In latest example of demonstration of anti-Gujarati and anti-Gujarat mindset, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut Saturday opposed demands from some quarters to shift the Western Railway headquarters from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.In a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut urged him to ensure the WR headquarters is not shifted to Gujarat as it would be “insult to the 105 martyrs of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement.”

“Moves are underway to shift the WR headquarters from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. Some MPs from Gujarat had demanded this. This is a conspiracy to weaken Maharashtra by shifting establishments under the centre’s domain,” Raut said.

He pointed out that three departments of the Reserve Bank of India have been shifted to New Delhi and important bulk traffic in the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust has been diverted to Gujarat, while earlier Air India headquarters was shifted to the national capital.Raut added out that these major central institutions provide the financial muscle to Mumbai and shifting them would render the country’s commercial capital weak, besides other effects.The issue of shifting the WR HQ cropped up after Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Solanki from Ahmedabad made the demand in Lok Sabha raising the Sena’s hackles.Congress leader Narayan Rane has time and again pointed out that the coastal security training centre which was proposed to come up in Palghar, Maharashtra, has reportedly been diverted to Gujarat.