Mumbai – who are the real outsiders???

For the past few months this question has risen many times. There has been war of words between the self-proclaimed guardian of Mumbaikar and the “outsiders” (as is called by the first group). But why is this sudden hatred towards the “outsiders”??? In order to answer this question, first we must know the history of Mumbai¹ (earlier referred as Bombay) and then about the people who are making this an issue.  

Mumbai is not known as the financial capital for no reason, as it is the dream destinations of most of the people as they come to this great city to turn their dreams into reality. If you look into the demography² of Mumbai then you would notice that atleast half of the Mumbaikar consists of people from other places. So can we say that Mumbai is only for Marathis. If you look into the history then you would notice that Mumbai has become financial capital of this country due to hard work done by the Gujarati community and in particular Baniya community (they somehow find ways of making money in this country or abroad). So why it is that question is raised about some of the people only? If one looks at the trend of the attacks then it would be noticed that only people from lower middle class are targeted as their voices are not heard in the higher echelons of the power. Who are the people behind such heinous attacks? Raj, who is more famous for his surname than his deeds, is fighting battle with his cousin to gain acceptance as the real heir to the surname attached to their names. And this is one way he can be in news and gain popularity.

But after the Mumbai attacks, the whole equation has changed. The “real” outsiders, terrorists stormed and created havoc into the city and we could not do anything. Whole of the country just watched the audacity of the terrorists who showed drawbacks in the Indian intelligence by pulling out attack at such large scale. But for the sacrifices of few good men and hundreds of policemen and commandos it could have been much worse. Thanks to our security personnel this did not turn into a large scale massacre. To these brave men, who were fighting to maintain the prestige of India, it never occurred that they are fighting on a land where people from other states are not invited. Because a true Indian would never involves oneself in such regionalism.

But the real questions are: Where were the sainiks of Mr Raj and the self proclaimed guardians of Mumbai Manoos??? Where did they go??? Wasn’t Mumbai burning??? Weren’t these terrorists the real outsiders??? These are some of the questions that would be asked again and again to these people. If someone from Bihar or UP comes and gets a job legally, then these people raises lot of hues and cries and creates havoc in the city by putting the city into ransom. But the same people were nowhere to be seen when these terrorists stormed into some of the most famous landmarks in Mumbai and killed people at their will. It’s so hypocritical, that these politicians attack innocent taxi drivers and labourers, who only dream of earning food for their family and send their children to good schools. I hope politicians rise above such petty politics which would lead to the disintegration of the country and rather concentrate on building India into a superpower where such spineless attacks are thwarted. We should all rise above regionalism and make this country a better and safer place to live, as an average Indian is not concerned about these petty politics but is highly conscious of terrorism.

The way we are proud to tell “Aamchi Mumbai”, the same way we are also proud to say “Hamara Bharat”, where all Indians are treated equal. So is Mr Raj listening??? I hope now you know who the real outsiders are...

Sources:

¹The name "Mumbai" is an eponym, etymologically derived from Mumba or Maha-Amba – the name of the Hindu goddess Mumbadevi – and Aai, "mother" in Marathi. The former name Bombay had its origins in the 16th century when the Portuguese arrived in the area. – Source wikipaedia.

²According to the 1991 census, the linguistic groups' demographics are: Maharashtrians (53%),  Gujaratis (22%), North Indians (17%), Tamils (3%), Sindhis (3%),  Tuluvas/Kannadigas (2%) and rest other. – Source wikipaedia.