This page lists some of my comments on other blogs.
I’d like to know if restricting jobs opportunities only to people from a particular region and preventing those from other states from appearing from recruitment exams is a hate crime or not? Or do these people parrot about hate crimes only when taxis are smashed or when shops are vandalized? If violence is to be protested against, why be mute spectators to injustice?
To label any of the agitations against Gujarati’s, South Indians and now North Indians is to mis-characterize an essentially economic issue into a law and order situation and so long as the mainstream media and their gullible followers refuse to look at underlying causes, no good is ever going to come out of this.
Dyslexic claims that original mumbaikars are Kolis. Pray tell me if the Kolis are not Maharashtrians? If these Kolis are not Marathi-speaking, are they speaking Gujarati? And are you absolutely sure there no Koli’s amongst the hordes of MNS?
Dyslexic, there is no problem with the Gujju’s because Narendra Modi or other Gujarati politicians don’t come to Mumbai during the Navratri’s and claim “Gujarat tho hamaari hain, ab Maharashtra ki bari hain”. This is true for many other communities as well. A migrant from any part of Maharashtra to Mumbai is different from those from other states because he is fully entitled to opportunities that are being created by policies of a state government that he has elected to govern. State governments of Bimaru states do not have the political will to dismantle their entrenched feudal systems, to control their population, to provide a stable law and order environment and more importantly to create jobs. Instead of using the Indian Railways to send goods that can be manufactured in their states, they are instead sending their labor, not to mention that they are using recruitment in Railways to violate the rights of other Indians at equal opportunity for jobs. As far as the issue of the number of Morarjee’s balls is concerned, I believe that issue was resolved back in 1960. Besides, what Morarjee did with the product thereof has also been very well documented. But, if you are still miffed about Gujarat’s loss of Mumbai, check any political map of India and see how deep Mumbai is in Maharshtra wrt Gujarat. If you are still not convinced, travel further north from Mumbai and visit places like Saphala or Kelve-Mahim (yes, Mahim like the suburb on the western railway) and you’ll see just how Maharashtrian these places are.
Pooja asks why should one trust the vernacular media more than the mainstream media. I don’t think Atanu is saying that one should, but does it hurt to look at the other side of the argument or are we condemned to judge based on one side of an argument? Personally, I still view the mainstream media with a healthy dose of skepticism because they tend to put a spin on news to suit their agenda. (Read my blog manooski.wordpress.com for some specific cases.) And it’s not just Maharashtrians who are at the receiving end; even Bihari’s feel the same. If you ever get a chance, watch the documentary, “Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the media”; you’ll find even the left of the liberal media tend to carry their own agenda.
Pooja, I’m amused at your statement that Mumbai is a land of immigrants. I suppose we should ask the French to send us a statue of liberty. If as you say Mumbai is a land of immigrants, then, if I may borrow the quote, it is of the variety where ‘we didn’t land on plymouth rock, but plymouth rock landed on us’.
