Bengaluru: The Indian Institute of Cartoonists is organising an exhibition of selected cartoons and photos of Bal Thackeray, a legendary cartoonist and founder of the right-wing parochial Shiv Sena regional party on the eve of his birth centenary. The exhibition runs from Saturday, 03 October to 19 November at the Indian Institute of Cartoonists here.
Career begins as a Cartoonist: Bal Keshav Thackeray, popularly known as Balasaheb Thackeray, began his career as a cartoonist at the Free Press Journal in Mumbai, and his cartoons also appeared in the Sunday edition of The Times of India.
News Day for a couple of months! Following differences with the Free Press Journal, Bal Thackeray, he and five others, including George Fernandes, a trade union activist turned socialist leader, deserted the paper and ventured into their own daily called News Day. However, News Day survived only for a couple of months!
Launches cartoon weekly, Marmik: Bal Thackeray launched Marmik, a cartoon weekly with his brother Srikant, in 1960. The tabloid dealt with issues of the common man, or, to be specific, the Marathi, or Marathi-speaking Manoos, like unemployment, sacking of Marathi workers, and things like that.
Leads to the birth of Shiv Sena: Bal Thackeray was categorical in his assertion in the weekly, stating that it was not just a cartoon weekly, but also the prime reason for the birth and growth of Shiva Sena. He announced the launch of membership for the Shiv Sena in the 05 June 1966 issue of Marmik.
David Low, his inspiration: Apart from the Free Press Journal, The Times of India, and Marmik, he also contributed cartoons to Saamna Marathi daily until 2012. Saamna is dubbed as the mouthpiece of the Shiv Sena. He was also on record acknowledging David Low, the legendary acclaimed cartoonist as his source of inspiration.
Influenced by his father: Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, one of the leading figures at the forefront of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement advocating formation of a separate linguistic Marathi state, had an influence on the political philosophy of his son, Bal Thackeray. This thought process had a tremendous effect on the daily routine of Mumbai, in particular, to begin with, and across the state earlier.
A tough time for outsiders: The Shiv Sena movement against non-Marathi settlers in Mumbai in the early eighties of the previous century created ripples in the minds to begin with, and later chaos among outside state people, more so among South Indians. Paradoxically, his bodyguards happened to be the Shettys from the South Canara district of Karnataka, under the pretext that they were trustworthy people!
With the trio, Shiv Sena reaches amazing heights: Bal Thackeray formed the Shiv Sena with the help of Madhav Mehere, the Chief Attorney for Trade Union of India, Babasaheb Puradare, a historian for the Government of Maharashtra, and Madhav Deshpande, the Head Accountant for Shiv Sena. It is also believed that the trio were mainly responsible for the huge success of Shiv Sena as a political party.
Banned from voting and contesting: Bal Thackeray's Shiv Sena developed into a formidable political outfit following the 1992-93 blast series in Mumbai, purported to be an orchestration of Dawood Ibrahim, the mysterious underworld don still at large. Bal Thackeray was banned from voting or contesting in any election for six years on the recommendations of the Election Commission, for seeking votes in the name of religion.
Controlling politics from behind: Despite being arrested any number of times for staging arrests, and also being imprisoned, he always preferred to strategise and control politics from behind, and never contested elections, nor occupied seats of power. However, he was accorded a state funeral.
Comments
Post a Comment