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Outsiders in Their Own Home: Migrants in Mumbai
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Indian students are feeling insecure in Australia. Hate attacks in Melbourne and Sydney have been making headlines over the past two weeks. One after another, at least seven students from India have fallen victim to alleged racial violence Down Under and one of them is battling for his life. It’s more than enough to make anyone feel insecure in a foreign country. I have myself gone through similar emotions. I spent at least a month last year fearing that I may become a victim of such mindless violence. And it didn’t happen in some foreign country. What Indian students are going through in Australia is, in many ways, similar to what north Indians felt in Mumbai when they came under attack during the ‘Mumbai for Marathis’ campaign of Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Like Australia, the first targets in Mumbai were students who had turned up for a railways exam. They were beaten up by MNS goons in what was called a protest again inadequate representation to Marathis in railways jobs. Soon, north Indians in the city, particularly those from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, became the targets, and the violence spread to other parts of the state. Regional sentiments were stoked up, and innocuous arguments in local trains, markets and workplaces took on a Marathi versus non-Marathi color. It was said that the anger against the so-called outsiders had been brewing just beneath the surface, and that the MNS tirade only gave people an opportunity to vent it. The attacks were restricted to taxi drivers and factory workers and middle class migrants were spared, but the violence created a regional divide. While my tiny hill state of Himachal Pradesh was not mentioned even once, the anti-north Indian sentiment was disturbing, especially when ‘North’ is written all over me. My north-Indian roots can easily identified from my appearance and the way I talk. So, I considered myself a sitting duck. The violence not only disturbed recent migrants like me, but also unsettled north Indians who had come to the city decades ago. They have been part of the social fabric of Mumbai for years. They have seen the ups and downs of the city along with the Marathis, Gujaratis, Tamilians, Andhraites, Malayalees, Parsis and other communities. They have thronged the Marine Drive to celebrate the success of Indian cricket team in the T20 World Cup. They have shed tears when terrorists struck. They have endured the fury of floods. They have chanted ‘Ganpati bappa moriya’ during Ganeshotsav. They have, in short, become Mumbaikars. Yet, a bunch of thugs could easily brand them outsiders. Though last year’s violence petered out in a fortnight or so, the seeds of the regional divide had been sown. The likes of Raj Thackeray and his uncle Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena chief, claim to be the champions of Marathi asmita or pride. They would want to reap the harvest of this ‘Mumbai for Marathis’ sentiment when the state goes to elections later this year.
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