Bal Keshav Thackeray Was a famous Indian cartoonist and politician. He founded the right-wing political party, “Shiv Sena” in 1966. Starting his career as a cartoonist in the 1950s, Thackeray soon became a prominent politician in the late 1960s. After entering politics, he became a symbol of Marathi pride and Hindutva. This leader of Shiv Sena was worshiped like a god. Thackeray, who changed the direction of Maharashtra politics in every aspect, had the power to convert pomp into silence with a single gesture of his finger. Thackeray, who roared like a lion, said goodbye to this world in 2012.
Contents
Biography/Wiki
Balasaheb Thackeray was born on 23 January 1926 (age at death: 86 years) in Pune, Bombay Presidency, British India, into the Marathi Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu community. He was not very good at studies and left school very soon. Since childhood, he was fond of writing and activism. In the 1950s, he participated in the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement and stood in support of the creation of a unified state called Maharashtra for the Marathi-speaking areas, with Bombay as its capital.
Early image of Bal Thackeray
Family
He was born to Keshav Sitaram Thackeray and Ramabai. Her father was a writer and renowned social activist who campaigned against superstition and social evils such as dowry, untouchability and child marriage. Bal Thackeray had eight brothers and sisters and he was the eldest among them. Ramesh Thackeray and Shrikant Prabodhankar Thackeray were his brothers and Pama Tipnis, Sudha Sule, Sarla Gadkari, Sushila Gupte and Sanjivani Karandikar were his sisters.
Bal Thackeray Family Tree
Pictures of Bal Thackeray and his brother Ramesh Thackeray
On 13 June 1948, Thackeray married Meena Thackeray.
Bal Thackeray with his wife and father
The couple had three sons: Bindumadhav Thackeray, Jaydev Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray. His wife died in 1995 and his son Bindumadhav Thackeray died in a car accident the following year. He did not have any daughter.
Uddhav and Jaidev Thackeray
Raj Thackeray is the son of his brother Shrikant Prabodhankar Thackeray. Raj Thackeray was to hold the post of Shiv Sena chief, but he separated from Shiv Sena in 2006 and founded his own party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Bal Thackeray with Raj Thackeray (left) and Uddhav Thackeray (right)
Aditya Thackeray, Tejas Thackeray, Aishwarya Thackeray and Rahul Thackeray are his grandchildren.
Bal Thackeray with Tejas and Aditya Thackeray
Aditya Thackeray is also an active politician and now, he is the president of Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Shiv Sena.
Rahul Thackeray with his wife
livelihood
Thackeray started his career as a cartoonist in Mumbai in the 1950s. He worked for the Free Press Journal and his cartoons were also published in the Sunday edition of The Times of India.
Bal Thackeray’s cartoons
Thackeray launched his own cartoon weekly ‘Marmik’ in 1960 with his brother Srikant. His cartoons also appeared in the New York Times and the Sunday edition of the Japanese daily newspaper, Asahi Shimbun.
poignant cover page
The success of his cartoon weekly ‘Marmik’ encouraged him to lay the foundation of the political party ‘Shiv Sena’. On 19 June 1966, he founded Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena means ‘Army of Shivaji’, a great Maratha warrior.
Initially, Thackeray said that it was not a political party but it was Shivaji’s army, working for the Maratha Manoos (Marathi people). Over the next decade, his party emerged as one of the major parties in the state and gave the state two chief ministers. In 1989, Thackeray launched the party’s newspaper, Saamana. However, in the early years of the 21st century, the party’s reputation declined due to its aggressive and violent nature.
controversies
Bal Thackeray remained the center of controversies throughout his lifetime. Some of the major controversies are as follows:
- In 1966, he first attracted media attention by campaigning against South Indians who were snatching jobs from Marathi people in Mumbai.
- In 1969, during the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute, he was arrested and sent to Yerwada Central Jail in Pune, Maharashtra.
- He was a strong critic of Pakistan. In 1998, during the concert of famous Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali in Mumbai, hundreds of Shiv Sainiks disrupted the concert on the orders of Bal Thackeray.
- He shocked political circles by supporting Indira Gandhi’s national emergency in 1975.
- During the communal riots in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra in 1984, he was accused of inciting the public. 17 people were killed and more than 100 people were injured in that riot.
- He was accused of being involved along with other radicals during the demolition of Babri Masjid in December 1992.
- Right after the Bombay blasts in 1993, Bal Thackeray was considered one of the instigators of communal violence. The Sri Krishna Commission report blamed Thackeray and Shiv Sena for instigating the riots.
Shiv Sainik during the 1993 Mumbai riots
- In 1995, he objected to the release of the Bollywood film “Bombay”, which was based on the 1993 Bombay bombings.
- He once commented on Biharis through his party’s newspaper Saamana, “One Bihari, a hundred sick.” Two Biharis are preparing for the fight, three Biharis are our train, and five Biharis are our government” (Meaning – One Bihari is equal to a hundred diseases, two Biharis are preparing for the fight, three Biharis, this is a train hijack, and five Bihari will try to form the ruling government. There was a huge uproar in the country on this statement. Nitish Kumar, the then Chief Minister of Bihar, filed a written complaint against him and Jai Bhagwan Goyal, head of Shiv Sena in North India, Jai Bhagwan Goyal resigned as a party worker and compared Shiv Sena to Khalistan and terrorist organization .
- He once targeted the then President of India APJ Abdul Kalam for not awarding death sentence to Afzal Guru.
- In 2007, he was criticized for praising Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in a newspaper. The same year, he described Muslims as green poison during a Shiv Sena rally.
- Thackeray faced criticism for supporting the Tamil militant organization LTTE.
- Social activist Anna Hazare and Bal Thackeray’s brother Ramesh Thackeray accused him of ill-gotten wealth and demanded a CBI inquiry.
Favourite Things
- Politician: Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- Singer: Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
- Actor: Amitabh Bachchan, Nana Patekar
- Cricketers: Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar
Assets/Net Worth
At the time of his death, his net worth, including his famous bungalow, Matoshree, was said to be over Rs 100 crore.
Death
He died on 17 November 2012 in Mumbai, Maharashtra due to heart failure at the age of 86. Thackeray was given a state funeral and it was the first public funeral in the city since Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1920. Although he held no official position, he was given a 21-gun salute.
fact
- He was fond of drinking beer, wine and cigars.
Bal Thackeray is smoking
- His nickname was ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’.
- His mother died when he was a child.
- His father, Keshav Thackeray, was a supporter of the creation of a Marathi-speaking state named Maharashtra with Mumbai as its capital.
- When he left the Free Press Journal, he set out with another daily, News Day, along with another journalist, George Fernandes. However, this paper survived for only a few months.
- He wrote for Marathi publications under the pseudonym “Mavla”.
- Shiv Sena achieved its first victory in the Thane Municipal Council elections in 1967.
Bal Thackeray during municipal elections
- Initially, Thackeray supported the Indian National Congress, however, later in the 1980s, it became a threat to the ruling Congress Party.
- In 1989, Shiv Sena was recognized as a political party with the bow and arrow as its election symbol.
- He was a great follower and admirer of Maratha leader Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
- Bal Thackeray opposed the recommendations of the Mandal Commission and due to this his close associate Chhagan Bhujbal left Shiv Sena in 1991.
- In the 1995 Maharashtra state assembly elections, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance won and Manohar Joshi was made the Chief Minister of the state.
Manohar Joshi
- In 1996, American pop-star, Michael Jackson visited Maharashtra and met Bal Thackeray and signed the toilet that Thackeray used.
- On 28 July 1999, Thackeray was banned from voting and contesting any elections for 6 years till December 2005 by the Election Commission for his involvement in corrupt practices in seeking votes.
- In 2004, he handed over the command of Shiv Sena to his son Uddhav Thackeray. However, Raj Thackeray was considered the political successor of Bal Thackeray.
- Separated Raj Thackeray founded his own political party ‘Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’ in 2006.
- In 2007, Thackeray voted for the first time in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections after the 6-year ban was lifted in 2005.
Bal Thackeray after casting his vote in 2007
- In 2009, he criticized “Marathi icon” Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar for saying that he was an Indian before being a Maharashtrian.
- At a Dussehra rally in 2010, Thackeray introduced his grandson Aditya Thackeray as the chief of the Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena.
- The Bollywood film series, ‘Sarkar’ was based on the life of Bal Thackeray, directed by Ram Gopal Varma.
- In 2017, another Bollywood film was announced titled ‘Thackeray’ starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the role of Bal Thackeray.
- Bal Thackeray’s interview with Rajat Sharma in Aap Ki Adalat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_MD9e-eqpU
See more: Anjali Tendulkar Wiki
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Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn