Voices

"I don't believe in flaunting my regional identity. If Maharastrians living outside the state start following Raj Thackeray's philosophy then they will be thrown out. For instance, I live in Bangalore, but cannot speak Kannada, what if the local people here ask me to leave? In this present age and time how is it possible to have any kind of growth without people moving or migrating from one place to another? I don't fear a backlash in Bangalore immediately. But what the MNS has done has entered the psyche of local people all over the country. In fact, after the violence broke out in Mumbai and other parts of Maharastra my colleagues and I have never stopped discussing the issue"

-- Aditi Rane,
Merchandiser, Flying Machine, Arvind Brands, Bangalore

"I don't really have an answer if tomorrow somebody stops me and asks me if I am a Maharastrian. It is also inconceivable that somebody should attack me tomorrow just because of my Maharashtrian surname. In this country, with so much cultural diversity, I feel, everyone is pan-Indian. There is no way that anybody can defend what the MNS is doing. It only heightens the risk for Maharashtrians living outside the state. I only hope that Thackeray's brand of chauvinism does not infectiously spread across other regions of India."

-- Chitra Phadnis,
Senior Journalist, Bangalore

"It's absolute nonsense. Raj Thackeray gives me the heebie jeebies. People like him should be banned. The fabric of the country will be destroyed. Raj Thackeray is trying a short cut to get cheap publicity instead of dealing with real issues of the people. I've been here in Chennai for 60 years, I've never been discriminated against because I am a Maharashtrian. Home is where you make it and Chennai is my home. People here follow a live and let live philosophy. I don't believe anybody can take another's job. People go where there is demand. I employ Biharis in my company and they are great workers."

-- Naren Ghorpade,
MD, Slimline, Chennai

"What Raj Thackeray is doing is utter nonsense. It should not happen. After all India is an independent country and anyone should be able to live anywhere. Also Bombay is what it is today because different communities contributed to make it what it is. This issue has been raked up by Raj Thackeray only to be in the limelight. But I am not worried there will be a backlash aginst Maharashtrians in other parts of the country."

--Mamta Walokar,
interior designer, Chennai

"The methods used by the MNS are absolutely, absolutely unethical. This is just not acceptable in today's India. Look at the number of north Indians who have now gone and settled in southern cities such as Bangalore. Not only has this helped break the stereotypical image of the South, it has also helped them imbibe and internalise some of the practices of the South and its culture and heritage. However, we must also keep in mind that if there was a regional quota to be filled, in this case, then those domicile of a certain state must be given priority. So if there is a regional quota in a central service, than that should be respected. However, to resort to violence is just not done."

--Lt Gen. V.G. Patankar (retd)

"The issue about who is an 'outsider' in any state comes from a legacy left behind by the British. It is the British who insisted that India was never a single union or country and deliberately used this argument to divide us. This legacy has now become a tool for people in any state to brand someone speaking a different language as an 'outsider.' But the fact is, history is replete with instances of people traveling to other states and being integrated into the new place of domicile. History tells us that even Shivaji's ancestors came from Rajasthan. And yet, today they are a symbol of Maharashtra and Marathi pride. So who really is a Maharashtrian? Finally, we have to keep in mind that if we keep taunting a person as a 'outsider' how will that person integrate himself or herself into his or her new state. If that is the case, then all of us, at some level or the other, will continue to be 'outsiders'. Is that desirable?"

--Dr Rajesh Tope,
anaesthetist, Appolo Hospital,
and a descendant of Tantiya Tope, Delhi

"What was being played in Maharashtra was a complete contempt for rule of law by all political parties. At the same time, one can be sympathetic to the issues raised by Raj Thackeray with caveats. The entire reinforcement of linguistic identity and chauvinism has to be seen in the backdrop of globalisation. It is true that the rich are getting richer and the issue that Raj Thackeray is raising, is one of bread and butter. But the manner in which Raj chose to highlight the problem, is reprehensible. What was required was a effective state intervention --instead the judiciary chose to respond."

--Manish Dabhade,
international relations faculty,JNU, Delhi