Editing Bal Thackeray (section)

== Views ==
Thackeray declared that he was not against every Muslim, but only those who reside in this country but do not obey the laws of the land, considering such people to be traitors.<ref>{{cite web |author=Sherman Hollar |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1090091/Bal-Thackeray |title=Bal Thackeray (Indian journalist and politician) |publisher=Britannica Online Encyclopedia |date=23 January 1927 |access-date=15 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118050232/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1090091/Bal-Thackeray |archive-date=18 November 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Shiv Sena is viewed by the media as being [[Islamophobia|Islamophobic]], though Shiv Sena members officially reject this accusation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://in.rediff.com/election/2004/apr/23espec3.htm |title=Know your party: Shiv Sena&nbsp;— Lok Sabha Election 2009 |work=Rediff.com |date=23 April 2004 |access-date=31 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321204106/http://in.rediff.com/election/2004/apr/23espec3.htm |archive-date=21 March 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> When explaining his views on [[Hindutva]], he equated Islam with violence and called on Hindus to fight terrorism and fight [[Islam]].<ref name="ibnlive">{{cite web |url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/thackeray-rants-after-tiger-win/top/32673-4.html|title=Thackeray lashes out at Prez again |publisher=CNN-IBN |date=3 February 2007 |access-date=15 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611133616/http://www.ibnlive.com/news/thackeray-rants-after-tiger-win/top/32673-4.html?xml |archive-date=11 June 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> In an interview with Suketu Mehta, he called for the mass expulsion of illegal Bangladeshi Muslim migrants from India and for a [[visa (document)|visa]] system to enter Mumbai, the Indian National Congress state government had earlier during the Indira Gandhi declared national emergency considered a similar measure.<ref name="Bose2006">{{cite book |author=Mihir Bose |title=The Magic of Indian Cricket: Cricket And Society in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8HQiMvK-bYC&pg=PA88 |year=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-0-415-35691-6 |page=88 |access-date=4 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704023904/http://books.google.com/books?id=X8HQiMvK-bYC&pg=PA88 |archive-date=4 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Suketu2005">{{cite book |author=Suketu Mehta |title=Maximum City |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ywp765kPKhYC&pg=PA101 |date=27 September 2005 |publisher=Random House Digital, Inc. |isbn=978-0-375-70340-9 |page=101 |access-date=17 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704023806/http://books.google.com/books?id=Ywp765kPKhYC&pg=PA101 |archive-date=4 July 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

He told ''[[India Today]]'' "[Muslims] are spreading like a cancer and should be operated on like a cancer. The country...should be saved from the Muslims and the police should support them [Hindu Maha Sangh] in their struggle just like the police in Punjab were sympathetic to the Khalistanis."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kapoor |first1=Coomi |title=Fury of communal violence burns 80 km stretch from tip of south Bombay to Bhiwandi town |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19840615-fury-of-communal-violence-burns-80-km-stretch-from-tip-of-south-bombay-to-bhiwandi-town-803038-1984-06-15 |work=[[India Today]] |date=15 June 1984|access-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111210101/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19840615-fury-of-communal-violence-burns-80-km-stretch-from-tip-of-south-bombay-to-bhiwandi-town-803038-1984-06-15 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |language=en |quote=The Maha Sangh's meeting at Chowpatty on April 21 was billed as a gathering to obtain the blessings of the Shankaracharya of Sringeri. But Thackeray used the opportunity to deliver a highly-inflammatory speech. By his own admission he used the derogatory Marathi term of 'Landiya' to describe Muslims, and declared that they were spreading like cancer and should be operated upon like a cancer. The country, he said, should be saved from the Muslims and the police should support them (the Maha Sangh) in their struggle just like the police in Punjab were sympathetic to the Khalistanis. |url-status=live}}</ref> However, in an interview in 1998, he said that his stance had changed on many issues that the Shiv Sena had with Muslims, particularly regarding the Babri Mosque or [[Ram Janmabhoomi]] issue:<ref name="1998 interview">{{cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/21nandy.htm |title=The Rediff Interview/ Bal Thackeray |work=Rediff.com |date=21 January 1998 |access-date=15 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120022824/http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/21nandy.htm |archive-date=20 November 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> "We must look after the Muslims and treat them as part of us."<ref name="1998 interview" /> He also expressed admiration for Muslims in Mumbai in the wake of the [[11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings]] perpetrated by [[Islamic fundamentalism|Islamic fundamentalists]]. In response to threats made by [[Abu Azmi]], a leader of the [[Samajwadi Party]], that accusations of terrorism directed at Indian Muslims would bring about communal strife, Thackeray said that the unity of Mumbaikars (residents of Mumbai) in the wake of the attacks was a slap to fanatics of [[Samajwadi Party]] leader [[Abu Asim Azmi]] and that Thackeray salute[s] those Muslims who participated in the two minutes' silence on 18 July to mourn the blast victims.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-07-20/india/27814176_1_blast-victims-serial-blasts-sena-chief-bal-thackeray |title=Mumbai's unity a slap to fanatics: Thackeray |date=20 July 2006 |access-date=30 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102191928/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-07-20/india/27814176_1_blast-victims-serial-blasts-sena-chief-bal-thackeray |archive-date=2 January 2014 |work=[[The Times of India]] |url-status=dead }}</ref> Again in 2008 he wrote: "Islamic terrorism is growing and Hindu terrorism is the only way to counter it. We need suicide bomb squads to protect India and Hindus."<ref>[http://ibnlive.in.com/news/politicians-indulge-in-hate-speech-with-impunity/89623-37-64.html Leaders deliver hate speech with impunity] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006141311/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/politicians-indulge-in-hate-speech-with-impunity/89623-37-64.html |date=6 October 2012 }}. CNN-IBN, 7 April 2009.</ref> He also reiterated a desire for Hindus to unite across linguistic barriers to see a [[Hindustan]] for [[Hindus]] and to bring [[Islam]] in this country down to its knees.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=80435 |title=Hindustan of Hindus my dream: Thackeray |date=29 January 2007 |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]] |access-date=20 November 2012 }}</ref>

Thackeray was criticised for his praise<ref>P. 90 India and the International System By Gupta, Mannaraswamighala Sreeranga Rajan, Shivaji Ganguly</ref><ref>P. 201 J.L Nehru on Communalism By Nand Lal Gupta</ref> of [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref name=":0" /> He was quoted by ''[[Asiaweek]]'' as saying: "I am a great admirer of Hitler, and I am not ashamed to say so! I do not say that I agree with all the methods he employed, but he was a wonderful organiser and orator, and I feel that he and I have several things in common...What India really needs is a [[dictator]] who will rule benevolently, but with an iron hand."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/95/0922/nat5.html |title=Portrait of a Demagogue |work=[[AsianWeek]] |access-date=13 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010709213551/http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/95/0922/nat5.html |archive-date=9 July 2001 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In a 1993 interview, Thackeray stated, "There is nothing wrong if [[Muslim]]s are treated as [[Jew]]s were in [[Nazi Germany]]." In another 1992 interview, Thackeray stated, "If you take ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' and if you remove the word 'Jew' and put in the word 'Muslim', that is what I believe in".<ref>{{cite news |last=D’Souza |first=Dilip |title=Hitler's Strange Afterlife in India |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/hitlers-strange-afterlife-in-india |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |date=30 November 2012 |access-date=16 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317234038/https://www.thedailybeast.com/hitlers-strange-afterlife-in-india |archive-date=17 March 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Indian Express]]'' published an interview on 29 January 2007: "Hitler did very cruel and ugly things. But he was an artist, I love him [for that]. He had the power to carry the whole nation, the mob with him. You have to think what magic he had. He was a miracle...The killing of Jews was wrong. But the good part about Hitler was that he was an artist. He was a daredevil. He had good qualities and bad. I may also have good qualities and bad ones."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/story/21977-3.html |title=Sorry |work=The Indian Express |access-date=13 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611224627/http://www.indianexpress.com/story/21977-3.html |archive-date=11 June 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Balasaheb Thakre |date=24 November 2012 |website=Maharashtra Information |url=http://maharashtrainformation.com/page.php?id=232 |access-date=10 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212090521/http://maharashtrainformation.com/page.php?id=232 |archive-date=12 December 2013  }}]</ref> Thackeray also praised [[Nathuram Godse]], the assassin of [[Mahatma Gandhi]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/shiv-sena-wanted-secular-dropped-had-hailed-godse/articleshow/72287237.cms |title=Shiv Sena wanted 'secular' dropped, had hailed Godse |newspaper=The Times of India |date=29 November 2019 }}</ref>

In 2008, following agitation against [[Biharis]] and other north Indians travelling to Maharashtra to take civil service examinations for the [[Indian Railways]] due to an overlimit of the quota in their home provinces, Thackeray also said of Bihari MPs that they were spitting in the same plate from which they ate when they criticised Mumbaikars and Maharashtrians. He wrote: "They are trying to add fuel to the fire that has been extinguished, by saying that Mumbaikars have rotten brains." He also criticised [[Chhath Puja]], a holiday celebrated by Biharis and those from eastern Uttar Pradesh, which occurs on six days of the Hindu month of Kartik. He said that it was not a real holiday.<ref name="IE_rattled" /> This was reportedly a response to MPs from Bihar who had disrupted the proceedings of the [[Lok Sabha]] in protest to the attacks on North Indians.<ref name="IE_rattled">{{cite news |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/story/281062.html |title=Rattled by Raj, Thackeray abuses Biharis news |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]] |access-date=2 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308184815/http://www.indianexpress.com/story/281062.html |archive-date=8 March 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> Bihar Chief Minister [[Nitish Kumar]], upset with the remarks, called on the prime minister and the central government to intervene in the matter. A ''Saamna'' editorial prompted at least 16 MPs from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, belonging to the [[Rashtriya Janata Dal]], [[Janata Dal (United)]], Samajwadi Party and the [[Indian National Congress]], to give notice for [[breach of privilege]] proceedings against Thackeray.<ref name="IE_rattled" /> After the matter was raised in the Lok Sabha, [[Speaker of Lok Sabha|Speaker]] [[Somnath Chatterjee]] said: "If anybody has made any comment on our members' functioning in the conduct of business in the House, not only do we treat that with the contempt that it deserves, but also any action that may be necessary will be taken according to procedure and well established norms. Nobody will be spared.'"<ref name="IE_rattled" />

In 2009, he criticised Indian cricketer [[Sachin Tendulkar]], a "Marathi icon", for saying he was an Indian before he was a Maharashtrian.<ref name="Time world" />

===Reservations===
Thackeray firmly opposed [[Reservation in India|caste based reservation]] and said, "There are only two castes in the world, the rich are rich and the poor is poor, make the poor rich but don't make the rich poor. Besides these two castes I don't believe in any other casteism."

The [[Bhartiya Janata Party]] (BJP) supported caste-based reservations based on the Mandal commission. Thackarey, despite being warned that opposition to the reservations would be politically suicidal for the Shiv Sena party, opposed the BJP over this issue and said he would initiate proceedings against the BJP if the BJP supported caste-based reservations. This also led to his conflict with [[Chhagan Bhujbal]], an [[Other Backward Class|OBC]], who later left the Shiv Sena.<ref>{{cite book |title=Bal Thackeray and the rise of Shiv Sena |publisher=Roli Books |author=Vaibhav Purandare |year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JS1hBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT178 |page=178 |isbn=9788174369918}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-images-bal-thackeray-s-portraits-from-the-past/20121117.htm |title=Bal Thackeray on casteism |publisher=rediff news |year=2012 |access-date=24 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124152351/https://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-images-bal-thackeray-s-portraits-from-the-past/20121117.htm |archive-date=24 January 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Savarkar===
Thackeray defended [[Vinayak Damodar Savarkar]] against criticism and praised him as a great leader. In 2002, when [[President of India|President]] [[A. P. J. Abdul Kalam]] unveiled a portrait of Savarkar in the presence of [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]], the [[Indian National Congress]] opposed the unveiling of the portrait and boycotted the function. Thackeray criticised the opposition and said, "Who is [Congress president and Leader of the Opposition] [[Sonia Gandhi]] to object to the portrait? What relation does she have with the country? How much does she know about the history and culture of India?". Years later, when Congress General Secretary [[Digvijaya Singh]] made a statement that Savarkar was allegedly the first one to suggest the [[two-nation theory]] that led to [[The Partition|the partition]], Thackeray rejected the statement of Singh.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/thackeray-defends-savarkar-over-digvijays-statement/articleshow/7396685.cms |title=Thackeray defends Savarkar over Digvijay's statement |date=31 January 2011|work=[[The Economic Times]] |access-date=25 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925142133/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/thackeray-defends-savarkar-over-digvijays-statement/articleshow/7396685.cms |archive-date=25 September 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/05bal.htm |title=Savarkar was a great leader: Thackeray |work=Rediff.com |access-date=24 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021170309/http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/05bal.htm |archive-date=21 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Kashmiri Pandits ===
In 1990, Bal Thackeray got seats reserved in engineering colleges for the children of [[Kashmiri Pandits]] in Maharashtra.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Modi|first=Chintan Girish|date=2016-02-05|title=Notes from an exile's diary|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/entertainment/notes-from-an-exiles-diary/article8196537.ece|url-status=live|access-date=2020-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108144859/https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/entertainment/notes-from-an-exiles-diary/article8196537.ece|archive-date=2020-11-08|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> At a meeting with them he supported the idea that Kashmiri Pandits could be armed for their self-defence against [[Jihadis]].<ref name="Behera">{{cite book |author=Navnita Behera |title=State, Identity & Violence: Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh |year=2000 |publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors |page=232}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Ajit Chak |title=Kashmir storm |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HdKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT62 |isbn=9781482844351}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Arvind Gigoo |title=The Ugly Kashmiri: (Cameos in exile) |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sudhBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT97 |isbn=9798184240367}}</ref>