In Dussehra speech, PM Modi calls for rooting out casteism, regionalism

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India Today | India 

The show of strength between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray on Dussehra day — customary since Shiv Sena split — continued this year too. With months to go before the Lok Sabha elections, the two leaders attacked each other in strong language, “Ravan” and “General Dyer” being some of the invectives used.

“Like Jallianwala Bagh, there was lathicharge on Marathas in the Sarati villages. Eknath Shinde’s government is General Dyer’s government,” Uddhav Thackeray said from the sprawling Shivaji Park in Dadar, the traditional venue of the event. This is where his father and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray addressed his workers, charging them with fiery oratory.

From Azad Maidan, also in South Mumbai, the Chief Minister compared his political rival to Ravan from Ramayan.  His point — the way Ravan disguised himself as a monk to abduct Sita, Uddhav Thackeray also concealed his desire to be the Chief Minister.

“Uddhav Thackeray wanted to become the Chief Minister, but did not want to show it. It was not allowed to be revealed till the end… Like Ravana disguised himself to kidnap Sita… Uddhav Thackeray had made a pact to become the Chief Minister… Two people were sent to Sharad Pawar to name him (for the post),” he said.

He, in contrast, had “promised Balsaheb that I would make a Shiv Sainik the Chief Minister,” he added.

Uddhav Thackeray alleged that Mr Shinde, though he professes to be an ardent follower of Balasaheb, had actually left him to “go to a Five Star”. “If he can do this to our father, what will happen to someone else?” he demanded.

The Shiv Sena split in June last year after Mr Shinde and his loyalist MLAs rebelled and pulled down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray. Mr Shinde then formed government with the support of the BJP.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction has since dubbed them “traitors”. The Shinde group claims Mr Thackeray broke the alliance with the BJP and joined hands with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party after forsaking Hindutva to satisfy his personal ambition to become the Chief Minister.

Several people living along the international border in Pithoragarh and Champawat districts of Uttarakhand have dual citizenship of India and Nepal, and such people are being identified, an official said.

“We have found such cases in Pithoragarh’s Jhulaghat and some areas of Champawat district on the Indo-Nepal border. The district administrations concerned have been informed about this,” D N Bhombe, Deputy Inspector General, Almora region of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), said.

The SSB officer said that the personnel deployed in all the 54 border outposts of the force in Uttarakhand are trying to identify such people living in the Indian territory, who have the dual citizenship of India and Nepal.

He said the SSB is also taking the help of the district administrations concerned in this regard.

Pithoragarh Deputy District Magistrate Anil Kumar Shukla said there are two types of Nepalese living in India. He said the first category is of those women who got married and came to India, but neither gave up their Nepalese citizenship nor acquired the Indian citizenship.

Shukla said the second category is of those people whose entire family came from Nepal and settled in India without taking the Indian citizenship.

“We have found many cases in which they fraudulently obtained Aadhaar cards and voter ID cards in India. We immediately cancelled their fake documents,” he added.

The deputy inspector general of the SSB said that apart from smuggling of wild animals’ body parts and drugs, we are also giving priority to preventing human trafficking, and we have formed special teams for this. He said the SSB personnel keep close contact with the villagers living in the border areas in order to gain information about the arrival of any outsider there.