A Caricature of Power

Name: Bala Saheb Thackeray

Age: 84

Country: India

Category: Politics

Calling: Politician

The beginning

Born on 23^rd May, 1924. Bala Saheb began his career as a cartoonist in the Free Press Journal in the 1950’s where he worked alongside legends such as R.K Laxman. His work was also published by the Sunday edition of the New York Times. In 1960, he founded Marmik, a cartoon weekly that came out strongly against the rising influence of Non-Marathis in Maharashtra.

Rise

Thackeray started the Shiv Sena in 1966 to fight for the rights of the native Maharashtrians. The party attracted mainly the unemployed and the lowly-paid white collar PSU workers who were enchanted by its leader’s frank tirades against anyone who wasn’t a Maharashtrian. In the 70’s the party directed its focus from ethnocentrism to Hindutva (read fanaticism). The party ran the state with a coalition with the BJP from 1995-99.

Power-Play

Though the claims of emancipation of the Marathis hold true to a certain extent with the government increasing job opportunities and increasing foreign investments, Thackeray’s power-play belongs to his own corrosive persona. Whether it were the Muslim riots in the early 90s or country-wide protests against Deepa Mehta’s films, whether it were remarks made in favour of Adolf Hitler and against the beloved former President Kalam, the Sena chief has said anything and everything and attracts widespread media publicity. He has been satirised by writers of the calibre of Rushdie, mentioned by Naipaul in one of his penetrating examinations of India, and interviewed by Suketu Mehta for his hugely popular Maximum City. In 2005, Amitabh Bachchan portrayed what seemed to many like a hybrid of a godfather-like mafia head and our very own, never-ceasing-to-keep-his-mouth-shut Balaji!