Why does media want to know my whereabouts after 26/11?: Raj Thackeray

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday declined to slow down his anti-north Indian tirade and dared the state government to take action against him for espousing the cause of the sons of soil. Addressing a mammoth rally at Thane's Central Maidan here he said that he was ready to go in jail for any number of times over his insistence that local Maharashtrian boys should get first preference in all jobs created in Maharashtra.

Thackeray said “nobody asked Uttar Pradesh brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan where was he when one person was killed on the eve of UP chief minister Mayawati's birthday. Then why did these Hindi and English Tv channel bosses in Delhi ask where I was after 26/11 ? The english and Hindi TV media made a tamasha out of the 26/11 terror attacks. Who will hold them answerable''.

The MNS chief alleged that there was a conspiracy behind all these attacks on the Maharashtrian ethos and pride in an attempt to break away Mumbai from Maharashtra. Thackeray came down heavily on the people who argued that NSG commandos from North India saved Mumbai. He remarked “a Maharashtrian General Arun Kumar Vaidya led the Operation Bluestar in Amritsar's Golden Temple in 1984. That time we did not say Maharashtra saved Punjab. If we eat apples grown in North, people might raise questions over it also. What can I do if apples grow in the North?”

The MNS chief further added “you accuse me of trying to divide the country on communal lines. Laloo and Mayawati give cast slogans during elections are they not trying to divide the country. Why no notices are sent to them?”

Raj asserted that everybody staying in Maharashtra should know Marathi. He justified his agitation over Shop name plates in Marathi. “If a student does not behave properly then what should the teacher do ? Give him a petition  or what ?'”, argued Raj Thackeray.

He alleged that the goons coming from UP are spoiling the culture of Maharashtra. ``I am not speaking about those who hail from UP and are staying here for generations, but of those who are recent arrivals and have no love for Maharashtra''. Raj Thackeray while insisting on jobs for the locals refered to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's speech in 1972 in which she said that local people should not be deprived of employment opportunities in their own home state. “If the Railways is the symbol of National Integration then why only Bihari's and UPites are recruited in Railways ? True national integration would be achieved if people from other states also get jobs.”