Violence in Maharashtra – The root cause

The media has been unanimous in its condemnation of Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), and rightfully so. Because violence is never the right means to any end.

But what is the root cause that makes one group of people attack another group of people? What has caused this violent outburst from some of the Marathi people? And why are North Indians being targeted? Note that in this context, we use the term “North Indians” to refer only to those from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the groups who are targeted by the MNS.

Is it because North Indians are the most prosperous community in Maharashtra? Not quite. The Gujaratis, Parsis and Marwaris have always controlled the economy of Mumbai, but they are not targeted.

On the contrary, is it because North Indians are the least prosperous, and therefore the most vulnerable targets? Once again, not quite. The poor in Mumbai include not only Biharis, but also Tamils, Telugus, Bengalis and Assamese, yet they are not targeted.

The root cause lies in an element of North Indian behaviour which none of the other communities in India have. An imperialistic attitude which dictates that all Indians should speak their language and follow their culture, while they in turn need not reciprocate. It’s quite common to find North Indians living for many years in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata or the North East without learning the local language. To compound the problem, some North Indian individuals belittle the local culture. Some North Indian businessmen in Assam are rumoured to follow ruthless tactics that make their Assamese labourers suffer. The prominent place of Uttar Pradesh in Indian politics could be another reason for the others to perceive an imperialistic attitude. Not to mention the Indian government’s institutionalisation of Hindi imposition, which gives a perverse justification to the imperialistic attitude of the Hindi-speakers.

In the case of Mumbai, the North Indians have transformed it into a predominantly Hindi-speaking city, an honorary part of North India. They rarely learn Marathi, and sometimes mock the Marathi people as lazy and unsuccessful. Marathis have so far been subservient to the North Indians, speaking their language and letting their culture take root in Maharashtra. But resentment has slowly built up, and Raj Thackeray is simply exploiting the sentiments of the average Marathi.

On the contrary, the Gujaratis, Marwaris, Parsis and South Indians have mostly learnt Marathi. They practise their culture in the confines of Matunga or the Parsi Colony, but don’t impose it on the Marathis. Since the Marathi manoos (Marathi common man) does not have any resentment against these communities, there is nothing for Raj Thackeray to exploit.

Arresting Raj Thackeray and his goons is not a long-term solution. Accusing the Marathi people of parochialism is also not the answer. First of all, Marathis are not parochial. They have never gone to Uttar Pradesh and asked the locals to speak in Marathi. Crying wolf about the MNS is not going to help. All these address the symptoms, not the disease. The disease is North Indian imperialism. That has to be addressed.

A misguided sense of patriotism has allowed the Hindi-speaking culture to be promoted as the supposed “national” culture. “National integration” is the most misused term in Indian politics. It has been wrongly equated with accepting North Indian domination meekly. This meekness is viewed as a virtue, and anyone who refuses to be meek is labeled as parochial, chauvinistic, and anti-national. The Tamils have always been called anti-national, just because they opposed (and continue to oppose) the “national language”. Now the same anti-national label has been bestowed upon the Marathis because they want to preserve their own culture in their own state!

Are Marathis the only people who resent North Indian imperialism? Not at all. North Indian imperialism is the root cause of the North Indian – South Indian divide, as I have discussed here. That was the root cause of the now-defunct Sikh separatism. That is the root cause of continued separatism in Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura. That is the root cause of the violence in Assam, where Marwari businessmen are attacked. The Marathis are simply the latest in a long line.

To avoid such violence and tensions from erupting in every part of the country, Indians need to weed out North Indian imperialism. The North Indians need to change their attitude. The other Indians need to stand their ground.

India needs to follow the Singapore model. The communal harmony of Singapore has been ensured by the sensible way the Singapore Government has managed diversity. Malay was made the national language only ceremonially. The majority of Singaporeans do not know Malay, and are not expected to know it. The constitution gives equal importance to English and three other languages, each corresponding to the three communities of Singapore. Instead of following the melting pot model where diversity is minimized, Singapore follows the mosaic model, where each component retains its unique identity and also becomes part of a beautiful whole. There is no reason for any community to feel they have been given a raw deal. Naturally, you don’t find communal tensions in Singapore.

India showed it can be done, when it decided not to have a national religion. It is possible for India to decide it doesn’t need a national language. Indeed, a national language and its associated nationalised culture are causing tensions to this very day. Unless India does away with North Indian imperialism, it is destined to live a turbulent life of communal tensions. National integration can never be achieved by taking a regional culture, calling it national, expecting everyone to embrace it, and marginalizing the other regional cultures. The Maharashtra violence should serve as a warning to the Indian government and to ordinary Indians, that India’s model for national integration is flawed. But from what I see, India is not heeding the warning. India is conveniently blaming a few men, and ignoring the root cause. If India continues to miss the obvious, it is destined to suffer more communal tensions.

Tags: bihar, hindi imposition, india, maharashtra violence, marathi, mns, mumbai violence, national integration, national language, north indians, raj thackeray, singapore, uttar pradesh