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India must reclaim Bombay before it's too late

Shobhan Saxena
02 February 2010, 12:10 AM IST

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It’s really sad and sickening to see Bombay turning into a city of hate. The way the Shiv Sena and MNS thugs are targeting innocent people, it seems very soon Indians from other parts of the country will need a visa to travel to Bombay. There was a time Bombay was the most cosmopolitan city in the country. Now it has begun to look like a provincial town where you are safe only if you speak Marathi or pretend to be a protector of Marathi Manoos' rights.

But it’s not enough to blame the Shiv Sena and MNS for the state of terror in the city, all political parties, particularly the Congress and NCP, have been playing dirty politics on this issue with their eyes on Marathi Manoos votes. Today, suddenly, the Congress leaders woke up and slammed Shiv Sena and MNS. Why? What happened all of a sudden that made Congress to say that ‘Bombay belongs to all Indians’. Obviously, the Congress was alarmed by the RSS-BJP combines’ position on the issue. Of course, the Congress and BJP don’t want to lose any campaign – hate campaign or love campaign – to each other. So, from now on, we will see more of “Mumabi for all” campaigns from all political parties all over the country.

But let’s keep the politicians out of it. They are only good at creating problems and putting people against each other – rich against the poor, poor against the less poor, Hindus against Muslims, Muslims against Christians, upper castes against lower castes, lower cates agaist the lowest castes, and Marathi Manoos against North Indians. It’s time the people of this country reclaimed Bombay as an Indian city, before it’s too late and before it falls to the hate politics of Shiv Sena and MNS.

This hate campaign is based on lies. Pure lies. They changed the name of the city from Bombay to Mumbai, claiming that that was the real, original name of Bombay. It's a pure lie. The fact is that when the Portuguese arrived in what is now Bombay (it was a small island with a fishermen setllement), they called it Bom (good) Bahia (bay). It was, of course a good bay. Over the time Bombahia became Bombay when the Portuguese gave the city to the British in dowry of their princess. That’s the origin of the word Bombay. No wonder the SS-MNS goons hate the North Indians who still call the city 'Bambai' and not Mumbai. Bambai is still closer to the city’s original name and it rankles these hate parties.

The other lie the SS-MNS combine keep spreading is that the city sends some 50% of the country’s revenue to the centre. True, a lot of tax comes from Bombay. But that happens because most of the PSU giants and private sector firms have their corporate headquarters in Bombay. It’s not that Bombay is producing goods worth the country’s GDP. If tomorrow all the big companies move their offices to Bangalore, all this tax will come from Bangalore.

The third lie is that the North Indians do not respect the local culture and local people. Again a pure lie. I have lived in Bombay for three years and I found the taxiwallahs and street vendors, almost all of whom come from UP and Bihar, to be honest and hard-working and simple people. And they have been the main targets of MNS' hate crimes.These people have made their lives with sheer hard work, slogging day and night and living in filthy hovels. They have made the city rich with their hard work. Ask any foreign tourist what he thinks is the best thing about Bombay and the answer would be – taxis. They are cheap, safe and friendly. They don't create problems for others. They don't attack others because of linguistic and cultural differences. And now the Congress government wants to throw them out because they don’t know Marathi.

Bombay is on a shaky ground at the moment. Let’s reclaim it before it’s too late, before the hate politics engulfs the city and fires start all over the country. The political class will be too happy to roast their goose over these burning fires, but the people of this country will lose a great city.

PS: The whole point of writing this blog was to make a case for more inclusive, more tolerant and more liberal cities in India. It's appalling to see people abusing each other. This kind of shrill debate doesn't help the idea of India. Let's talk about the real issues which can make Bombay a better city and India a better country.