RAJ THACKERAY, a marginalised state level politician, has been transformed from zero to hero, by sparking violence against the outsiders, causing arson and exodus of outsiders. His electoral objective has been achieved, thanks to a nonchalant government, which allowed things to drift and then went through an equally tame drama of arrest and release, all in three hours flat. All right thinking people have roundly condemned this politics of hatred countrywide.

 

The political parties, however, have spoken out or kept mum, depending on what electoral balance sheet they have in mind. Predictably, north Indian leaders like Lalu Yadav, Mayawati, Amar Singh, etc have come down heavily on  Thackeray. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been silent and Maharashtra chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, himself was hardly vocal!

 

For a while, we need to look at this issue from another perspective. The resentment of the ‘locals’ against ‘outsiders’ for reasons real or imaginary is a global phenomenon. In fact, it has to be anticipated. Statesmanship requires that caring governments and honest politicians work towards finding solutions to real problems and assuaging feelings on imaginary wrongs, while working within the framework of the Constitution. But Indian politics is a different ball game, and we see Lalu threatening to celebrate next ‘Chhat puja’ outside Thackeray’s home. This is uncalled for provocation and then that very week in Karnataka, he makes derogatory remarks against a group of locals – thus showing his true colours.

 

There is a widespread belief that under Lalu, the Indian Railways are somehow manipulating recruitments to favour Biharis, even in distant Maharashtra and Karnataka. This needs to be seriously looked into by the Centre, and justice should be done. Further, nobody is taking seriously the lack of development and employment in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar by successive governments. Former President APJ Kalam has been harping on this for a long time, but to no effect. In fact, a culture of siphoning off funds, extortion and kidnapping is being cultivated. This drives the scared and enterprising professionals to Delhi and the unskilled to places like Mumbai.

 

When will our Centre and the states not only pay lip service to ‘all inclusive’ development, but also honestly try to change the ground reality? While it may be our constitutional right to live and work anywhere in the country, it is also the responsibility of the all local governments to provide adequate education and skills to enable all sections of the society to find suitable employment reasonably close to home.

 

Coming to Mumbai again, we have to understand the studied neglect of this city by politicians. We can no longer rest on the truth that Mumbai is a city of dreams and gold, thanks to its immigrants. Today, both the insiders and outsiders have sufficient reasons for resentment and feeling of being choked out.

 

Till the 70s, Mumbai was a very livable city for all sections of society. The planners did see the possible choking of the city with further developments. A committee including eminent planners like Charles Correa suggested the development of a twin city across the creek. Thus, in 1979, Maharashtra government sanctioned a plan for New Bombay. The specific purpose of investing thousands of crores of taxpayers’ money was to ‘decongest Bombay and act as a counter magnet’. The money was overspent but decongestion was not to be! The government offices did not move to the new city.

 

Thanks to the builder lobby, against all logic, sea was further reclaimed towards south Bombay, giving rise to new business districts of Nariman Point and Cuffe Parade. This further strained the narrow north-south corridor for commuters and all the attendant miseries of an overcrowded and polluted metro. The stated policy of housing of new businesses only in New Bombay was never implemented. To make matters worse, sea was further reclaimed to give rise to Bandra Kurla Complex, making the city even more vulnerable to flooding, while the newly named Navi Mumbai looked askance.

 

For the unfortunate spin off of such activities, citizens in general and the locals in particular have a lot to be unhappy about, thanks to the city having sold its soul to the whims of the builder.

 

In this ruthless drive, the ‘kolis’, the local fisher folk who lived there, are being pushed out of their habitat and livelihood. Even the costal regulation zone laws are being bypassed to put up high rises. Similarly, the mill workers, who were assured housing on defunct mill lands, have been slyly robbed of this possibility. The CM himself was a party to change of rules, which drastically reduced the land that the mill owners were to give for housing workers and open public spaces.

 

Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the agency for providing low cost housing, is trying every trick of the trade to parcel lands for housing the rich. Similarly, the Slum Rehabilitation Schemes (SRA) is being manipulated to oust the slum dwellers and house the rich. And all this ‘development’ is being done without any thought to the supporting infrastructure that should actually be a precondition. This way, 60 per cent of Mumbai will continue to live in a veritable Slumbai!

 

This mindless construction by dishousing the poor is generating its own discontent, generally aimed at the ‘outsider’. It is a known fact that crowding generates discontent and conflict, particularly when the poor are being pushed out more and more to the periphery of the city, while their services are required in the city. Even Thackeray and his friend,  Manohar Joshi, the former CM and Lok Sabha speaker, are partners in construction activity right in downtown Dadar. The irony is that they also are constructing posh buildings for housing the rich and big business, on a land where the ‘Marathi manoos’ worked in the now defunct mill.

 

This lopsided development, both at the state level and the national level, makes it obvious that all politicians and governments are only interested in cashing in on the ‘development’, which favours the rich and the powerful, while paying lip service to the ‘local’ and the poor. As long as this continues, there will always be enough of discontent to ignite reaction against the ‘outsider’!