Raj held for less than 3 hrs

MUMBAI: The suspense ended on Wednesday when the Mumbai Police arrested Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray and city Samajwadi Party chief Abu Asim Azmi on identical charges of promoting enmity between communities and inciting violence. Raj was picked up from his house at Shivaji Park at 4:15pm. Around the same time, Azmi was arrested from Colaba.

Raj was granted bail for Rs15,000 by a metropolitan magistrate at Vikhroli at around 7pm. The magistrate, Sunil Sharma, told him not to make statements that could disturb the peace. He also told him not to coerce witnesses or tamper with evidence.

Azmi got bail for Rs10,000 from the Bhoiwada magistrate’s court.

The arrests brought the curtains down on a 10-day drama, which had raised some uncomfortable questions for the government. The delay in arresting the two politicians was apparently because the government wanted to ensure that it had adequate security measures in place to contain the fallout. It also wanted to ascertain the ability of the MNS to create trouble.

Heavy police presence ensured that Mumbai was largely calm, but sporadic violence erupted elsewhere. In Ambernath, two MNS activists were stabbed by a shopkeeper. In Nashik, an employee of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was killed in heavy stone pelting on a company bus.

Deputy chief minister RR Patil assured citizens that the police were prepared for any situation. He said there was no pressure from the Centre to act, nor did the state force the police to act.

Tension on the streets : Earlier in the day, all roads leading to Raj’s house were cordoned off. A huge convoy of police vehicles drove in by noon. Tension was palpable as Raj emerged, clad in a white cotton full-sleeved shirt and blue sleeveless sweater.

He was whisked away in a police van as the waiting cameramen went into frenzied action.

Thousands of policemen, including personnel of the State Reserve Police, Rapid Action Force, and Riot Control Police, were deployed across the state. “We have made at least 1,000 preventive arrests in Mumbai,” said joint commissioner of police (law and order) KL Prasad. Apart from stray instances of stone-pelting, the city was calm. “We will continue with the heavy bandobast,” he said.

Courtroom drama
Police brought Raj Thackeray to the court at about 4:45 pm. He remained there, standing near the dock, till the procedure ended at 7pm.

Assistant public prosecutor Ashok Bansode said Raj’s statements were not only aimed at spreading ill-will against a specific class of people, but also at creating a rift in society.

He sought Raj’s police custody. “Thackeray has been successful in spreading communal hatred,” Bansode said. “We want his custody to know whether he was planning any serious offence. We want to know his economic sources, which were used to spread his message all over the state.”

Raj’s lawyer Ashok Mundaragi objected to Bansode’s allegations and demanded that his client be released. He said Raj’s statements were taken out of context.

Referring to an earlier judgment, he argued that while some statements in a speech may be inflammatory, the entire speech could not be termed so.

Rejecting the prosecution’s plea, Sharma ordered that Raj be sent in judicial custody till February 25. Then Mundargi made an application for bail, which was accepted. Raj went home smiling after paying Rs15,000 in cash and waving to the crowd milling outside.

Emotive issue
Since 2005, Raj had been struggling for an emotive issue to bring him to centre stage. By raking up the debate of Marathi manoos versus North Indians, he has succeeded partially.

How much of this will translate into electoral success remains uncertain. But the MNS stand has forced the Shiv Sena to revive its Marathi plank.

Top Sena leaders, including Bal Thackeray, have been harping how they are the true protectors of the sons of the soil. The Sena fears that the MNS campaign has the potential to split its vote bank, though the latter does not yet have the mechanisms to consolidate its votes.

Congress signal
The technical arrest, though delayed, was a must for the Congress to send a signal to North Indians that it would not tolerate divisive politics in Mumbai or Maharashtra. With elections due in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi, the party had to take a stern stand.

The NCP found itself in a win-win situation. If the North Indians were hurt, it would affect the Congress. A split in the Marathi vote would weaken the Sena.

The MNS is now likely to intensify its agitation harping on the Marathi plank. It will be a litmus test for the police to maintain law and order.

Rane the brain?
A source claimed that revenue minister Narayan Rane was the brain behind Raj Thackeray’s aggression. The source said Rane instigated Raj to take the issue to the streets, thus disrupting law and order. The idea was to put chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, whom Rane has been working hard to dislodge, in a spot.

CM under attack
Meanwhile, Deshmukh’s absence from Mumbai for the last 48 hours has not gone down well in the Congress. A section in the party complained that Deshmukh was busy preparing for his son Amit’s wedding instead of steering the ship of state at a time of uncertainty. A delegation from the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee has already complained against Deshmukh to Congress bosses in New Delhi.

Amit’s wedding is slated for February 28. One MPCC general secretary said, “Any other chief minister would have cancelled all his programmes and stationed himself in Mantrayala to reassure people that he was leading the state from the front.”

Deshmukh, however, insisted that he has been monitoring developments in Mumbai and elsewhere on a regular basis.