MUMBAI, 5 February 2008 — Supporters of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray yesterday attacked the Mumbai house of movie superstar Amitabh Bachchan as politicians in north India denounced attacks on migrant workers in the metropolis and demanded Raj’s arrest. Separately, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh filed a case with the police against Raj Thackeray and his supporters for threatening him.
Local media reports said that early yesterday two MNS workers riding a motorcycle threw empty bottles at Amitabh’s Juhu bungalow and left after raising slogans in support of Raj Thackeray and denouncing Amitabh. Police later beefed up security at Amitabh’s residence and also at his son’s house in the same neighborhood.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Brijesh Singh said Amar Singh filed his complaint late Sunday after MNS activists went on the rampage during a Samajwadi Party rally addressed by Mulayam Singh Yadav at Shivaji Park in Dadar, central Mumbai, which is considered the turf of the Shiv Sena.
Raj Thackeray’s controversial remarks on people from north India had led to clashes in several parts of Maharashtra on Sunday. MNS activists assaulted taxi drivers, who are mostly from north India. Many shops were forcibly shut down by violent mobs just before the rally. The taxi drivers were beaten up in full view of police who did nothing to stop the MNS supporters.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati yesterday blasted the Maharashtra government for the violence against migrants in Mumbai and the comments against north Indians by Raj Thackeray.
“I strongly condemn the attacks on UP migrants engaged in different professions in Mumbai,” she told reporters in Lucknow. “What is happening in Maharashtra is against the spirit of the Indian Constitution, and, therefore, it warrants deterrent action against the culprits.”
Accusing the Maharashtra government of soft peddling on the issue, Mayawati said: “The Maharashtra administration should have taken stern action to curb the violence, but lamentably, they have failed to do so.”
Calling on the federal government to intervene, she said: “It is high time the central government did something concrete to ensure the safety and security of the lives of lakhs (hundreds of thousands) of poor UP migrants who go all the way to Mumbai in search of livelihood.”
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also denounced Raj Thackeray while the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded action against him.
“His utterances are highly irresponsible and he should refrain from making such remarks. Had he been in Delhi, he would have got a fitting reply,” Dikshit said in response to reporters questions.
