In the last one week, the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra has stunned the public. One, with its newly-discovered soft corner for rationalists and atheists who were killed for their views on religion and for contesting bigotry; second, with protecting meat shops in the city after a four-day ban on meat was declared by its ally, the BJP, for Jain fasts in the city. The ban on the sale of meat by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) during the Jain fasting period of "Paryushan" saw the Shiv Sena and the MNS setting up meat and chicken stalls in the busy Dadar area of Mumbai.
This is the Shiv Sena whose party supremo Bal Thackeray famously said, "When it rains in Moscow, the
Lalbhai open their umbrellas in Mumbai." The
lalbhais was a reference to communists, so if you are stunned with the Sena's newfound love for Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi, be assured, the internal politics in the state will deliver more enlightenment. Yes, the same Shiv Sena has lashed out at the Muslim community in Mumbai, attacking meat shops and abattoirs in the past. But now, if the Sena is a fan of Chicken Tandoori, it has got more to do with its increasingly strained relations with the BJP and Devendra Fadnavis, than a love for plurality and democracy.
The Shiv Sena has come on strong against the Jain community even suggesting "Muslims at least have Pakistan, where will you go?" - an ultimatum to the Jains with a veiled attack on the Gujarat community which voted en masse for Narendra Modi's BJP in Mumbai.
In fact, the joke goes that if tomorrow, Modi or any member of the BJP steps in Mumbai and asks Muslims to prove their nationalism or go to Pakistan, the Shiv Sena would throw its weight behind Muslims and even shelter them in Matoshree (the Thackeray residence) if needed. The same Shiv Sena whose leaders were among those responsible for inciting the 1993 Mumbai riots, according to the Sri Krishna Commission report.
So how should one read the meat ban in Mumbai? Is it a part of the continuing attempts at saffronization or the cleansing of the "cultural pollution"
as described by a BJP cabinet minister or is it petty politics between a regional player and a national party over one upmanship? As far as Maharashtra is concerned, the politics cannot be overlooked. Last year, just before the BJP assumed power not just at the centre but also in Maharashtra, BEST (public) buses carried posters of the Gujarati newspaper
Sandesh.The advertisement described the contributions of the Gujarati community towards the financial and intellectual development of Mumbai, reading, "Who leads Mumbai's economic and intellectual development? We Gujaratis."
This was enough to provoke both the Shiv Sena and its comic cousin the MNS to start an agitation that which was seen in the 60s against Gujaratis. The advertisements were allegedly put at the behest of BJP leaders from Maharashtra who wanted to consolidate the Gujarati vote (traditionally divided between the BJP and the Shiv Sena or NCP) in its favour. Within days, the Shiv Sena corporator and chairman of BEST Arvind Dudhwadkar instructed that the banners be removed from the buses.
As if this wasn't enough, Shiv Sena mouthpiece
Saamana wrote a scathing editorial on May 2nd 2014 against Gujarati businessmen who supported Modi and did not partake in Maharashtra Day celebrations. The editorial said "All these traders who have been saying they are happy with their businesses and have nothing to do with politics came together to ensure that a person from their state and caste becomes the Prime Minister. But how many of them have ever stepped out of their high-rises to celebrate Maharashtra Day? Living in Mumbai, they have enjoyed the benefits of wealth. They have filled their coffers. They have exploited Mumbai like a prostitute. People who came here carrying a
lota (small empty utensil for ablutions) have created cities of gold for themselves. On the strength of this wealth created from Mumbai, these industrialists are manipulating Indian polity. They are scheming who should be made the Prime Minister and who should be brought down."
In the late 60s, with Bal Thackeray's tirade against outsiders ("Madrasis" and Gujaratis) at its peak, it was famed that Maharashtrians spoke Marathi in hushed tones once they crossed Charni Road station and entered South Mumbai dominated by the business class Gujaratis.
The meat ban and the hypocrisy around it is a result of a long-standing feud between the Gujaratis and Shiv Sena, which has exacerbated with the BJP gaining an upper hand in the state assembly in last year's state election. The targeting of the Jains is less parochial and more political as it has always been in Maharashtra, where regional parties have chosen convenient enemies.
Where does this leave the cultural fabric of the state and the country? Well, the kebab-eater at Mumbai's famed Bade Miyaan in South Mumbai includes the average Gujarati as well as the average Marathi and the Muslim. This is not about the fight to protect Jains or promote the cultural diversity of Maharashtra. The meat ban, like the beef ban, is another attempt at playing a political yorker by the present political dispensation.
All this when Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister promised to bring in a change from the parochial, manipulative politics in the state. But the Nagpur boy, who has in the past refused to take a stand on these diktats, has proven that he and his party will use every trick in the book despite the risk of turning more regressive with every month.
And if Fadnavis continues to cater to this opportunistic, dogmatic politics, he would have taken the first step in the process of "cleansing the cultural pollution" of what we all so proudly call India's most cosmopolitan city. Perhaps focus instead on the inability to track down the murderers of rationalists Dabholkar and Pansare who are roaming free in the raj of meat ban.
(Rana Ayyub is an award-winning investigative journalist and political writer. She is working on a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which will be published later this year.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.