After 1761 she will be the first person from Maharashtra to sit on the ‘throne’ of Delhi. It was in that year that the Marathas, the virtual master of Delhi, were routed by the invading army of Afghan ruler, Ahmad Shah Abdali. Though Abdali left India sometimes later, Marathas never recovered and could not regain the power in Delhi. However, they still remained a powerful force on the Indian political scene and posed some challenges to British and Nizam rulers in the western part of India.
Two hundred and forty-six years later, as the head of the state, Pratibha Patil will be the supreme commander of the land, navy and air force. Her chance of becoming the President of the Indian Republic has always been better than the Opposition’s Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, but Shiv Sena’s support for her further brightened her prospect.
There is no dearth of people who were surprised by the Sena’s decision to break rank with the National Democratic Alliance, and support the Congress nominee. Sena’s position is that it has done so because Pratibha Patil is from Maharashtra.
The truth is that one should not be surprised by the Sena’s change of stance. There is no denying the fact that Shiv Sena was, to much extent, a creation of the Congress. Who can refute the fact that the then Maharashtra chief minister, Vasantrao P Naik, was present as the chief guest at a function to launch Shiv Sena in Mumbai on October 30, 1966. Privately many prominent Congressmen used to support ‘the army of Shivaji’ as Mumbai in particular was in the grip of Communists and Socialists. George Fernandes, who later became a good friend of Shiv Sena, was one of them. In those days the Shiv Sainiks’ anger was directed more against the South Indians, known as Madrasis – though they were from different states – and Gujarati businessmen. Today in contrast Bihari and UP-wallahs face the music.
It was much later for the sake of political space that Shiv Sena distanced itself from Congress and by 1980s and 1990s it started associating itself with the BJP brand of Hindutva. The transformation from typical Maratha-brand of nationalism or chauvinism to Hindutva brand of nationalism did not take much time or effort. Shiv Sainiks were in the forefront of the demolition of Babri Masjid and in the subsequent communal riots of December 1992 and January 1993, which took a huge toll of lives. Shiv Sainiks take strength and inspiration from what they called an epic struggle by Shivaji against Aurangzeb.
Though Shivaji died when Aurangzeb was still in power, later Marathas continued their struggle. Though Shiv Sainiks stood for Marathas as well as Hindu nationalism, the fact is that in the past the Peshawas, the successor of Shivaji, had Arabs and even French as mercenaries in their army. Even one of the generals of Shivaji was a Muslim.
Not surprisingly, sometimes after the 1992-93 communal riots the Shiv Sainiks reportedly helped the Tablighi Jamaat to make their Ijtema in Mumbai a success. And in 2007 they even joined the Indian Muslim Congress Party to come to power in the Malegaon Municipal Corporation in the state.
Whatever may be the party supremo Bal Thackeray’s argument there always appears to be a contradiction between the typical regional parochialism and larger so-called pan-Indian Hindutva-type nationalism. This dichotomy always existed in India. Who is not aware of the fact that thousands of Hindu Biharis, UP-wallahs, etc. are hounded out of Mumbai and other places by the Shiv Sainiks.
The Congress exploited this double-speak of Shiv Sena up to the hilt. Not only the Pratibha Patil card drove a wedge in the National Democratic Alliance rank, the candidate herself chose to hit two birds with one stone when she attended a function at Udaipur organised to commemorate Rana Pratap Singh, the King of Mewar, who opposed tooth and nail, the Mughal Emperor, Akbar. Here she played a typical Rajasthani as well as the woman card. Rana Pratap was another symbol of typical regionalism, rather than the broader Hindutva nationalism. Had it been Hindu-versus-Muslim battle, Akbar’s army would not have so many Rajputs and other Hindus. And by talking of women’s emancipation and holding the Mughals responsible for the purdah-system Pratibha wanted to win the heart of both women and Rajasthanis, the state to which Bhairon Singh Shekhawat belonged. Though unlike 18th and 19th centuries there is no East India Company around in the sub-continent – though there is a large presence of multi-national companies – our politicians sometimes behave like the regional satraps of those earlier centuries. We can throw all the norms, ideology and commitment to wind just for the sake of a Maharashtrian, Bengali, Tamil or Rajasthani President.
The new (Shiv) Sena-patni
After 1761 she will be the first person from Maharashtra to sit on the ‘throne’ of Delhi. It was in that year that the Marathas, the virtual master of Delhi, were routed by the invading army of Afghan ruler, Ahmad Shah Abdali. Though Abdali left India sometimes later, Marathas never recovered and could not regain…
