Women pose with knives, distributed by India's radical Hindu nationalist party Shiv Sena, in Mumbai January 23, 2013. The Shiv Sena, an ally of the main opposition BJP, has handed out kitchen knives and chilli powder to women in Mumbai following the gang rape of a student in Delhi that ignited a national debate on the best way to tackle sex crimes. Pictures of Bal Thackeray, founder of the Shiv Sena, dangle from key rings attached to the knives. Picture taken January 23, 2013.
Mumbai: Describing late Bal Thackeray as an open-hearted person, BJP President Nitin Gadkari said here that the Sena patriarch was not a dictator and always took decisions, which he felt were reasonable.
Balasaheb was an open hearted person. He never indulged in caste-based politics. Though some people portrayed him as a dictator, it was not the case. He would take decisions in accordance with the situation, Gadkari said at a programme here last evening.
The death of Bal Thackeray on Sunday was marked by a deluge of encomiums from the entire spectrum of politicians, businessmen and the Bollywood-elite who found unparalleled virtue on everything he did. Even his strongest detractors searched for euphemisms to whitewash the fear-factor that he and his party stood for.
There were indeed attempts of muted dissent, but the commentators - mostly writers and activists - ensured that their words were nuanced and balanced with unqualified praise. Live telecast kept reminding them that 2.4 million people were on the streets of Mumbai mourning his death.
But a day later, things have completely changed, thanks to two faceless young girls in Mumbai who spoke their mind on their Facebook pages and subsequently got picked up by local police.
What followed was an epidemic of dissent.
With a single stroke, unrestrained adulation for Thackeray by people ranging from Amithabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar to President Pranab Mukerjee gave way to an outpouring of dissent by common people.
Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India, fired the first salvo by writing a powerful note saying he cannot pay tribute to the Sena leader for his anti-national sons of the soil doctrine and the hatred he spread. The Hindu, in a brilliant op-ed article said the Sena leader gave voice to a Nazi impulse in Indian politics - one that poses an ever-growing threat to our Republic.
A cut out of Hindu hardline Shiv Sena party leader Bal Thackeray, is displayed as people attend his cremation in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. Hundreds of thousands of supporters filled the streets of Mumbai for the funeral of Thackeray, a Hindu extremist leader linked to waves of mob violence against Muslims and migrant workers in India. Thackeray, an 86-year-old powerful, rabble-rousing orator for Shiv Sena, which means Shiva's Army, died on Saturday following a cardio-respiratory arrest.
Members of the Indian Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party light candles as they pay tribute to chief of the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party, Bal Thackeray in Amritsar on November 18, 2012. The final journey of Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray began with his body being taken out for the funeral procession from his residence in suburban Bandra Mumbai this morning amid the presence of thousands of grief-stricken Shiv Sainiks, who have come from across Maharashtra.
Supporters take part in the funeral procession of Indian Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party leader Bal Thackeray in Mumbai on November 18, 2012. Huge crowds gathered in Mumbai to witness the funeral procession of Bal Thackeray, chief of the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party and one of India's most divisive politicians. Thackeray, who called his followers 'Hindu warriors' and was widely accused of stoking ethnic and religious violence, died aged 86, triggering a virtual shutdown of the city.
