The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) held a rally in Mumbai yesterday to support a citizenship law introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year that has triggered nationwide protests.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which eases the path for non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to gain citizenship, has triggered weeks of sometimes violent protests against Modi’s government.
If combined with a proposed National Register of Citizens, critics of the CAA fear it would discriminate against India’s Muslim minority and chip away at its secular constitution.
The rally called by MNS was the first big demonstration in support of CAA, apart from rallies organised by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray said the rally was organised to counter protests opposing the new law, adding: “If you mess further, a stone will respond to a stone and a sword to a sword.”
Thackeray blamed infiltrators for terrorist attacks and crime in India.
Leading the massive rally, Thackeray said: “A thorough clean-up operation is a must.”
He said the CAA has been in existence since 1955, and was intended to give citizenship to persecuted “minorities”, but the circumstances have changed since then.
He questioned about unauthorised people who have entered India and played havoc with the economy, taken away jobs, molested women and indulged in criminal or terror activities.
“Is India some kind of a ‘dharamshala’ (inn) where any outsider can walk in and settle down? We have enough of our own problems to tackle. India has not taken the responsibility for ‘humanitarianism’ by giving refuge to all,” he said.
The MNS chief said similar operations to weed out infiltrators are underway in Europe, Australia and other nations, but there are no protests there.
Thackeray said it was pointless to knock the doors of the Maharashtra government - headed by his cousin and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray - and he vowed to take up the issue with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led federal government.
An estimated 150,000-plus activists from across the state, including many Muslims, marched enthusiastically as the Thackeray-led mega-procession left Girgaum Chowpatty for Azad Maidan where it culminated into a rally.
He was accompanied by wife Sharmila, son and MNS leader Amit Thackeray, close relative Shalini Thackeray, top party officials, leaders of affiliated organisations and workers from all over Maharashtra.
Earlier, starting from his Shivaji Park home, the Thackeray family paid homage at the memorial of his uncle and Shiv Sena founder the late Balasaheb Thackeray, and later visited the 220-year old Siddhivinayak Temple in Prabhadevi.
The 4km route route from Girgaum Chowpatty to Azad Maidan resembled a sea of the MNS’ new saffron-hued flag with the symbol of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Royal Seal, and the marchers donning arm-bands of the party symbol, some sporting matching T-shirts and caps.
Marching peacefully and in an orderly fashion, many raised slogans demanding that illegal migrants living in the country be driven away as they are a drain on the country’s economy, resources and jobs, besides posing threats to national security.
This was the MNS’ first public show of strength after it donned a new ‘avatar’ on January 23 with a new flag, symbol, ‘Hindutva’ agenda and right-wing direction as it struggles to create its space in Maharashtra politics, especially after the recently changed state political scenario.