By IANS
Mumbai : Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray Saturday justified his supporters’ action against north Indians leading to violent clashes this week and also blasted the Hindi media for ‘bias’ in reporting the violence.
“The defensive action by MNS was just a reaction to (Samajwadi Party general secretary) Amar Singh’s provocative words and I stand by what my volunteers have done,” Thackeray told a handful of select Marathi reporters at his office here. He had banned all non-Marathi media from his press meet.
Continuing his tirade against north Indians, Thackeray said: “People have even started sympathizing with north Indians because they are industrious and hardworking. But nobody sees or accepts the fact that they have snatched these jobs from Maharashtrians.
“Why do north Indians (living in Mumbai) have to show off in the form of celebrating their festivals? Neither the Gujaratis nor Tamilians show off their pride,” he claimed.
Thackeray said when Sourav Ganguly was dropped from the Indian cricket team, some political parties in West Bengal had united to defend him. “Just because they were vocal, he managed to get a place in the team again,” he said.
Targeting Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan yet again, Raj alleged north Indians don’t want to develop their home states but only want to come and throw their weight around in other places like Mumbai.
“Amitabh being a big man, he has so much love for his motherland. Compared to him I am a small man. What is wrong if I express love for my motherland,” he said.
Raj Thackeray, who broke away from his uncle Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and launched his own party, last month repeatedly ridiculed people of north India settled in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra.
As the Samajwadi Party, the main opposition in Uttar Pradesh, held a rally here Feb 3, there were clashes between MNS workers and north Indians across the state.
On reports of his impending arrest, Thackeray said: “I have not heard anything about it so far, nor will I apply for anticipatory bail.”
In an article published in a Marathi daily, he had stated: “Even if the whole world opposes my stand, my party and I will continue to protect Marathi culture and people will trample the goondaism of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.”
The article titled “Majhi bhumika, majha ladha” (My stand, my struggle), Thackeray appealed to the people of Maharashtra to come and join in his struggle.