Raj Thackeray has lost his mental balance: Giriraj Singh

07 January, 2013

It was another bout of hate speech against Biharis by MNS chief Raj Thackeray when he alleged that all the criminals involved in the recent Delhi gang rape were Biharis. But it didn't surprise many as the so-called custodian of Maharashtra has been making much disgusting comments against the people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

THE ROW started by Raj Thackeray, however, didn’t pass unnoticed as various political parties rubbished the disgusting remarks of the MNS chief. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav accused Thackeray family of making provocative and insulting comments against the Bihari migrants in the state to further their political agenda.

“It has become a habit of (Raj) Thackeray and his extended family (Shiv Sena) to insult Bihari migrants all the time and for all crimes taking place in the country,” Yadav told NNIS. He further said that Raj Thackeray should refrain from making insulting remarks against Bihari migrants as these were not in national interest.

Addressing a public function in Goregaon Saturday last, Thackeray had said that everybody was talking about the Delhi rape but nobody was questioning where they (rapists) came from. “No one is asking who did this. So many cases are slapped against me (for speaking against Biharis), but no one is talking about the fact that all these rapists are from Bihar," Thackeray said.

Maharashtra state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant reacted sharply when he asked MNS to look at its own crime record. “Last month, an MNS leader was arrested for raping a minor girl. Three years ago, a minor domestic help was gang-raped by four MNS workers. An MNS leader was arrested for the rape of a girl in Amravati in April 2011," Sawant said.

Challenging him to make such statements outside Maharashtra, Janata Dal-United leader Ali Anwar said Raj Thackeray "has gone mad". Echoing Anwar’s views, Bihar state Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh of BJP said “Thackeray had lost his mental balance” and demanded a ban on the MNS.

Besides the politicians, cutting across party lines, Twitterati also disparaged the insinuating remarks made by the MNS chief. A user with Twitter handle @_logiK tweeted: “Raj Thackeray complains that Biharis ruin things because his clan, Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus were (sic) driven out of Awadh by a Magadha King.”

@Gotham_3 called for a death fight among Akbaruddin Owaisi, Raj Thackeray and Praveen Togadia. “Let's have Owaisi, Togadia, Raj Thackeray type politicians locked in a room for a Death Fight & the Survivor should be tried for murder.”

Raj Thackeray’s tirade against Bihari migrants draws its inspiration from his uncle Bal Thackeray who once wrote an editorial in his party mouthpiece Saamna, ‘Ek Bihari Sau Bimari’. He had been threatening migrants in Maharashtra to keep the flame of his divisive politics alive. And Raj like a saputra nephew has been closely following his policies or tricks of the survival trade.