Mumbai, Nov 27 (IANS) The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Thursday strongly criticised Union Minister Jitendra Singh for expressing gratitude that “IIT Bombay’s name was not changed to IIT Mumbai,” calling the comment a sign of ‘mental slavery’ and demanding a police case be registered against him for showing disrespect to the city.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, through a hard-hitting editorial in its party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, claimed the statement was yet another attempt by the Centre to sever Mumbai’s connection with Maharashtra, citing the recent attempt to place Chandigarh under central control as a precedent.

“All self-respecting political parties in Maharashtra need to take this matter seriously,” the editorial asserted.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena slammed the ruling ‘MahaYuti’ partners — the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena, and Nationalist Congress Party — for failing to condemn the Union Minister’s preference for ‘Bombay,’ suggesting they had become subservient to Delhi. It urged the Opposition and self-respecting citizens to not only condemn the remark but also launch a “Jodo Maro” (beat him with shoes) protest against the Minister.

“This is the Maharashtra of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray. Therefore, the self-respect is filled in the hearts and minds of the Marathi people who will not tolerate any insult to Mumbai,” the editorial said.

The editorial further said that the Delhi-based BJP leadership has designs on Mumbai, alleging a systematic “looting” has occurred over the last ten years.

Claiming it as a plot, the editorial further said, “Mumbai should not remain Mumbai and must either be drawn into Gujarat’s fold or made dependent on Delhi. Institutions with a Marathi imprint have been pushed towards Gujarat’s influence, and by handing strategic parcels of land to favoured groups, the rights of Marathi people over the city are being steadily weakened.”

It further alleged that the leadership that tried to bring Chandigarh under the Centre’s direct control was now pursuing a similar path for Mumbai.

“The Centre tried to take Chandigarh out of Punjab’s hands and issued a ‘fatwa’ that it would hereafter run the city. This provoked the people of Punjab, and they agitated. Like Mumbai, Chandigarh is a centre of major economic activity. The Centre hatched a plan to ensure that it (especially Gujarat) would have control over those economic turnovers. It is now becoming clear that they may try the same move with Mumbai too,” the editorial alleged.

Stepping up its attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre, the Uddhav Thackeray camp alleged that a deliberate effort was underway to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra and place it under a Gujarat-based administrator, allowing continued misuse of the city’s resources.

The editorial said Mumbai draws its name from the grace of Mumba Ai or Mumbadevi, and noted that repeated attempts had been made to distort this legacy. It recalled that the Portuguese had renamed the city Bom Bahia, which later morphed into Bombay, and argued that this remained the root of present-day disputes.

According to the Shiv Sena-UBT, Jitendra Singh’s preference for the name Bombay reflected a mindset shaped by colonial influence. It remarked that although the Prime Minister had spoken of freeing the country from the mentality of slavery during the Ayodhya Ram Mandir’s flag-hoisting ceremony, his own minister continued to celebrate a colonial-era name.

“What punishment will he get?” it asked.

–IANS

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