By IANS
Mumbai : Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, in an attempt to overtake his estranged nephew Raj Thackeray’s campaign against people from north India, termed Biharis as an affliction, and said they were unwanted in all other parts of the country.
In an editorial, titled “Ek Bihari, Sau Bimari” (One Bihari, hundred illnesses) in the party mouthpiece Samana Wednesday, Thackeray said: “They (Biharis) have enraged and antagonized the locals wherever they have settled. The MPs from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have also exhibited their ingratitude to Mumbai and Maharashtra by their anti-Marathi tirade in parliament.”
The ageing leader warned that the so-called Bihari leaders, by accusing people of Mumbai of harbouring “anti-national sentiments, were attempting to again breathe fire into the anti-north Indian feelings in Maharashtra.”
They must realize this would only put their brethren here at the receiving end, he added.
Some parliament members from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh recently opposed the campaign against north Indians settled in Maharashtra, which was initiated by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MSN) led by Raj Thackeray.
It resulted in sporadic violence against north Indians, especially Biharis, in several parts of the state in early February.
Following pressures from different quarters, Raj Thackeray was arrested and was gagged by the Mumbai police for the past three weeks. The gang order was upheld bya civil court later.