MNS Chief Raj Thackeray addresses a press conference regarding Plastic Bag Ban issue, at his residence in Mumbai.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar with MNS President Raj Thackeray during the opening ceremony of 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Sammelan in Mulund, Mumbai.
For Blood Is Thicker Art, after all, does draw people closer. Those bombarded with the MNS-Shiv Sena turf war in 2014 were bemused by Raj and Uddhav Thackeray's bonhomie at the...
Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray along with MNS chief Raj Thackeray during second death anniversary function of the late Balasaheb Thackeray at Shivaji Park, in Mumbai.
Raj Thackeray with Narendra Modi
Save the seats Gadkari meets Raj Thackeray in Mumbai
MNS chief Raj Thackeray meets Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan on the issue of toll tax in Mumbai.
The Largest Pugmarks THAT Ratan Tata is a dog-lover is known far and wide. What surprised all was his visit to the residence of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray. Rea...
MNS Chief Raj Thackeray and Amitabh Bachchan during the launch of Insurance policy for cine artists, an initiative by Maharashtra Navanirman Chitrapat Sena, in Mumbai.
Match Made on Earth The large groom, Rahul Thackeray, pushes a ring through the fingers of his svelte bride, Aditi Redkar. Around them circulate the pomp and power of the po...
Amitabh Bachchan promises umeed se dugana from a bill board hanging on the Kohinoor Mill’s wall. The mill land was recently bought by Shiv Sena leaders Manohar Joshi and Raj Thac...
No More Questions There is never a drought of issues for the MNS in Maharashtra, and never a dearth of silly ways to register their protests. The latest is the “mock exam”. ...
Pull Up The Chairs The past weekend was quite hectic for hacks on the Sena-BJP-MNS beat in Maharashtra. And all because of a report in a leading Marathi daily which spoke of a ...
MNS chief Raj Thackeray and his wife Sharmila (L) welcoming industrialist Ratan Tata at their residence in Mumbai.
Industrialist Ratan Tata with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, his wife Sharmila and son at their residence in Mumbai.
Who’s The Big Cat Now? Now it’s common knowledge that MNS chief Raj Thackeray tries his utmost to copy late uncle Bal Thackeray’s style, be it in mannerisms or dress (note...
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi exchanges greetings with MNS chief Raj Thackeray as Karnataka deputy CM KS Eshwarappa looks on during his oath-taking ceremony at Sardar Patel ...
Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray performing the final rituals of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray at Shivaji Park in Mumbai.
MNS Chief Raj Thackerey broke down during the funeral of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray at Shiv Theerth (Shivaji park) in Mumbai.
The Thackeray family
L'affaire Mutalik brings us to the issue of how much coverage for incidents like this. Also, is the media willingly or unwittingly turning into a PR wing of such ragtag vigilante groups? Is media's over-enthusiasm proving totally counter-productive? The media, in all sincerity, should come up with a policy prescription for itself to ensure that its coverage does not achieve the exact opposite of what it intends to establish. After all, this year's Valentine's Day was the least colourful in recent times and strangely, the media ensured that it was so. Ironically, the media outdid Mutalik in this endeavour.
There is another deeper media issue involved in the Mangalore pub attack-coverage. Why was the media, the more sedate and supposedly more balanced print media included, utterly disinclined to inform the readers about Ram Sena's antecedents and its running battle with the Sangh Pariwar? Also, the media chose to ignore the fact that there were some local Congressmen among the Ramsena funders. Questions like whether Mutalik was deliberately being modelled into a Hindu Bhindranwale to embarras an unfriendly dispensation at Bengaluru, just as a similar exercise is on to establish Raj Thackeray as the real representative of Maharashtra pride, have never been probed by the media. Ram Sena's run-ins with RSS are only too well-known even to the general public in Mangalore. Why did the media fail to see the obvious? Is there a deeper and hidden agenda?
