PUNE, India, 3 May 2008 — Hard-line Hindu group Rashtriya Swamyamsevak Sangh (RSS) came out in support of north Indian migrants in Maharashtra yesterday, a day before Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Raj Thackeray was to address a public rally in Mumbai.
The RSS condemned the anti-north Indian migrant rhetoric of the MNS, saying the party was creating unrest in the state on the basis of language and region. The RSS spearheads the Hindu extremist movement in the country and shares close affinity with the Shiv Sena, which has added its own Marathi agenda to the wider Hindu cause. MNS is an offshoot of Shiv Sena.
In a press statement, RSS western region chief Anil Kukde cited the constitutional right of all citizens to live and work anywhere in the country and denounced the anti-north Indian drive. “The MNS campaign is a selfish act and damaging to national integrity,” Kukde said.
He said the need of the hour was to build trust among different ethnic groups. Without naming Raj Thackeray, Kukde said the drive against north Indians were stunts for short-term political gains.
