It is May 8, and Arvind Sawant, the incumbent Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP running for re-election from Mumbai South, and his entourage find themselves in the midst of bursting crackers, a shower of rose petals and resounding chants of “vote for mashaal (flaming torch)”. Sawant is passing through Bara Imam Road, and the hard-bitten Sena leader is getting a rousing reception in what is the heart of Mumbai’s Muslim quarters. The place is not far from Nagpada, where members of the Chhota Shakeel gang in 1998 allegedly gunned down Salim Badgujar, a Shiv Sainik, for opening a Shiv Sena branch.
“This is the first time in my life that I have seen Muslims supporting a Sena candidate with such enthusiasm,” says Javed Mansuri, president of the Mansuri Jamat. The undivided Sena traditionally shared a bristling relationship with the Muslims, particularly after its shift towards Hindu right-wing politics in the late 1980s. The party’s purported involvement in communal conflicts, including the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai, only deepened the fault lines.
この記事は India Today の May 27, 2024 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は India Today の May 27, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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