Right on the heels of the Shiv Sena chief’s ill-conceived comments on Sachin Tendulkar, the public is subjected to a series of acts of hooliganism by his party members. The Sena of course has always been a party known for its intemperate behaviour and predisposition to violence. This has often been interpreted as “manliness” in some bizarre attempt to gain street credibility rather than democratic or constitutional stature. But the recent events point to a party which is scrambling to stay in the public eye rather than a strong contender or even the schoolyard bully.
On Tuesday Sena activists attacked the Mumbai office of Bhojpuri actor Manoj Tiwari. This would have been a comedy of errors if it had not involved vandalism — the intended target was Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari for which senior Sena leader Diwakar Raote had to apologise. Manish Tiwari’s “crime”, for which Manoj Tiwari had to pay, was to say that Bal Thackeray’s reaction to Sachin Tendulkar’s assertion of his Indianness was “unwarranted”. The Sena apologised for the mistaken identity, not its illegal actions. The same day, a Sena MLA and his workers attacked Arun Firodia, chairman of the Kinetic group, at a factory in Ahmednagar. The industrialist was roughed up — slapped according to reports — in a ruckus over a labour dispute. The minister of state for home intervened to sort out the matter. In a third incident, a mob led by Sena workers ransacked the office of a hydraulic engineer with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationover water supply problems in Mumbai. The Sena is the ruling party in the BMC.
These incidents not only show how easily parties like the Sena descend to street brawls or how little they respect the rule of law, but also how desperate they have become to make a mark for themselves in the current political scenario. The Congress and its allies have won the state for three elections in a row, doing better each time. The Sena is struggling to keep its head above the water in the internecine battle with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The pronouncements of its chief which once shook the city, if not the state or the country, with fear have invited nationwide derision for taking on a beloved cricket icon. Although the Sena was never a party which prided itself on its civilised behaviour, the current outcrop of violence suggests that it is fast losing the plot, since it cannot even get its hooliganism right. Perhaps the next Saamna edit could be targeted inwards?
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