Eminent Mumbaikars demand a check on parochial goons

MUMBAI - A group of eminent Mumbaikars Wednesday urged Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to stop tolerating ‘goondagiri’ in the name of parochialism and enforce the rule of law with utmost firmness.

In a signed appeal to Chavan, D.M. Sukhthankar, J.F. Ribeiro and Gerson da Cunha said that amid the “competitive parochialism of the two Senas - Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) - it is Mumbai that suffers.

“Neither party seems to care. Shortterm political gains count. The state government’s position and action are not clear cut,” they lamented.

The signatories pointed out that Mumbaikars, already plagued by high prices for residential and business premises, the highest cost of conducting businesses, dipping quality of life and a fragile civil security, must now contend with “street level goons and vandalism” over ‘Mumbai’ and ‘Bombay,’ be it shop signs or telephone services.

“Could anything be more ridiculous when we face a decline in most indicators affecting life and living?” they wondered.

“We note with concern that the state government seems to be plying at the same table of political stakes. Motivated disturbances and violence are not put down with the speedy firmness that is needed,” they said.

They referred to the vandalism of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) over the word ‘Bombay’ in its name.

“The MNS now zeroes in on alleged foreign dancers in a Bollywood chorus line - an attack on the one sector where Mumbai still leads - filmdom. How long before we drive the film industry away to Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Chennai?” they asked.

Appealing to Chavan, the government and civil society, the signatories said that tolerance of ‘goondagiri’ for political gain boomerangs with greater force while the city suffers economically, socially and culturally.

They urged the government to take a stand - just as BNHS had done, and Bollywood is beginning to do - by putting a stop to all such ‘political opportunism’. They asked the corporate world to unite in defence of the city.

“Law breakers must be apprehended and political parties obliged to make good any damage caused to persons and property as the courts have repeatedly ordered,” they said.

The appeal is signed by Sukhthankar, Ribeiro and da Cunha on behalf of 20 prominent Mumbaikars — B.G. Deshmukh, S.N. Variava, Kumar Ketkar, Shyam Benegal, Raju Moray, Ajit Ranade, Sujata Manohar, Vijaya Mehta, Narayan Varma, Sanjay Ubale, I.M. Kadri, Jamsheed Kanga, Sharada Dwivedi, Anil Dharker, Cyrus Guzder, Nasser Munjee, Charles Correa, Anand Akerkar, Shyam Chainani and Alyque Padamsee.