(Adds details on city-wide shutdown)
By Henry Foy and Shilpa Jamkhandikar
MUMBAI, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Bal Keshav Thackeray, one of
India’s most polarising politicians and leader of a right-wing
Hindu nationalist party that has dominated politics in the
country’s richest city for two decades, has died aged 86.
Thackeray died of cardio-respiratory arrest on Saturday at
his home, one of his doctors, Jalil Parker, said. He had been
ill for some time and was rumoured to have died earlier this
week.
A religious zealot whose grip over Mumbai often resembled
that of a mob boss, Thackeray was president and founder of the
hardline Shiv Sena (Shiva’s Army) party, built around his fiery
rhetoric on religion, immigration and communalism.
A hero of Mumbai’s Hindu working class, he was heralded as a
staunch defender of regional heritage by his supporters and
despised as a hot-headed bigot by others. He devoted his public
life to championing the rights of Mumbai’s “sons of the soil”.
As darkness fell and news of his death spread on Saturday
evening, shopkeepers and restaurant owners rushed to down their
shutters across India’s commercial capital, as the city’s
population fled home on traffic-clogged roads fearing a “bandh”,
or city-wide shutdown, by his supporters.
A bus was attacked with stones in one of the city’s eastern
suburbs, while people carrying Shiv Sena flags were seen
forcibly shutting down shops that had not already closed, as the
city’s police force advised people to stay in their homes.
Shutdowns in the past, typically enforced by political
groups as a protest measure, have seen incidents of violence.
Movie theatres closed their gates, music concerts were
cancelled and taxis disappeared from the roads after Thackeray’s
death was announced. The city’s bus transport company suspended
all of its services, CNN-IBN television channel reported.
The shutdown is expected to last until Sunday evening, when
his funeral will take place.
Thackeray, a former political cartoonist, waged a 50-year
campaign against immigrants from outside the state. He accused
immigrants of taking jobs away from residents of Mumbai,
endearing him to large numbers of young working class men.
“Only Marathis have the first right over Mumbai,” Thackeray
wrote in his party’s newspaper last year, referring to natives
of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is capital. The party
newspaper is called Saamna, which means “confrontation” in the
Marathi language.
His rise to power in Mumbai, a city of about 20 million
people, underscored the strong pull of religion and regionalism
in modern India, a constitutionally secular country prone to
clashes over its many faiths and traditions.
Always seen in oversized tinted sunglasses, even when
indoors, with a necklace of beads over orange robes typically
worn by religious figures, Thackeray held a strong grip on
Mumbai through his army of loyal supporters, whose rallies and
protests often turned violent and forced the city to a halt.
“A FARCE”
Thackeray often referred to Indian Muslims as
“anti-nationals” and called for Hindu suicide squads to counter
what he saw as a rise in Islamic terrorism. He was also fiercely
critical of Pakistan, decrying efforts by New Delhi to reach out
to its nuclear-armed rival.
“Having peace talks with Pakistan which is behind the blasts
in India is a farce,” Thackeray wrote in Saamna in July,
referring to bomb attacks in Mumbai in 2008. “Playing cricket
with them is treason,” he added.
A government inquiry into riots in Mumbai in 1992 and 1993
said “there is no doubt that the Shiv Sena and Shiv Sainiks took
the lead in organising attacks on Muslims and their properties
under the guidance of several leaders of the Shiv Sena”.
Thackeray was never charged in connection with the riots, in
which about 600 Muslims were killed.
His political influence and huge following saw him courted
by big business and some of India’s most famous film stars.
Amitabh Bachchan, the biggest name in Bollywood, Mumbai’s film
industry, fought through crowds outside his house to visit
Thackeray this week when the politician’s health deteriorated.
Thackeray’s views have been condemned by many mainstream
politicians, but his party is the fourth-largest in
Maharashtra’s state legislature, and his face adorns hundreds of
billboards across Mumbai.
His death could spark a power struggle in the Shiv Sena,
denting its support with its vote base in Maharashtra.
In a video message to party workers last month, a visibly
frail and out-of-breath Thackeray said he was exhausted and
asked them to “take care” of his son, Uddhav, and grandson,
Aditya, who are widely seen as his successors.
Thackeray’s estranged nephew, Raj, whose skills as a public
speaker have drawn comparison with his uncle, broke away from
the Shiv Sena in 2006 to form a rival party, and is seen by many
to be gaining influence in the state.
(Additional reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee and Nandita Bose;
Editing by Ross Colvin and Stephen Powell)
