Mumbai: Most of the city’s North Indians are simply puzzled. “The whole situation is illogical,” says Sidharth Jain, a second generation Mumbaikar, whose family originally came from Rajasthan. “I feel disappointed and  despondent,” he says.

 

Mumbai is his home. If boomtown Mumbai attracts people from all over the country to keep growing, why should political leaders North Indians? That’s what people like Sidharth are asking.

Some believe that the government has helped create a scary situation. Amarjeet Mishra, leader of the BJP’s UP cell, celebrates Uttar Pradesh foundation day in Mumbai every year. He said, “We have been tense in the last few days. The government has stretched Raj Thackeray’s arrest far too long.”

But Mishra is also angry. “What really got my goat were comments that migrants earn in the city, but send money to their villages. I pay my taxes, that’s all that matters.”

The economic argument is pervasive. Rambaks Singh, an executive committee member of the Uttar Bharti Sangh, echoes Jain’s views, “How can someone say we are not contributing to Mumbai?”

Many Mumbaikars—North and South Indians alike—believe like any other situation, this one, too, is being politicised. The thought that “things will settle down at some point” is prevalent.  RD Yadav, a central government employee, says, “What can I say? When politicians fight, the common man suffers.”

But the question to ask, then, is how many people will call Mumbai home? What’s seems to have irked people we spoke to is the charade that politics has enacted in the city. “It’s a charade,” says Jain, who felt that there was no point arresting the MNS leader, only to let him off on bail.

The role of the police is also being questioned. The enforcers of law and order have been accused of standing mutely while taxi drivers were being beaten up. “Isn’t it their duty to protect us no matter who says what?” says Vidya, a college student.

On Saturday, as news of Thackeray’s arrest – and bail — spread across the cityscape, many people headed for the safety of their homes. But taxis and auto rickshaws were scarce, and many had to walk. “That’s what a migrant-less Mumbai will look like,” says Vidya. Even as the Maharashtrians-versus-outsiders issue is dying, it has upset the civic infrastructure in the city. And that is worrying Mumbaikars.

Source : DNA