Sena (UBT) says mass protests are democracy's strength, not anarchy, hits back at Bhagwat remarks

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Thursday sharply criticised remarks by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on mass movements. The party said agitations against the government led by Narendra Modi are a democratic right and not anarchy.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction put forward this position in an editorial in Saamana, the party's mouthpiece. The editorial alleged that the Sangh leadership is ignoring people's grievances and indirectly backing a government that has created serious challenges for the country.

Speaking on Tuesday at the Sangh's annual Vijayadashami gathering in Nagpur, Bhagwat had said that agitations will happen in a democracy, but they should focus on solving problems rather than deepening divisions in society. He had also said that changing governments does not necessarily solve fundamental problems.

Questioning the remark, the editorial said public anger against the government cannot be brushed aside as political manipulation or an attempt to create instability.

The Thackeray faction read Bhagwat's remarks on a change of power as calling into question the political change of 2014, when Modi came to power. It also asked whether the Sangh regrets today the role its wide organisational network played in the movement before the change of government in 1977.

The editorial alleged that in the past 12 years the government led by the BJP has worsened economic and institutional challenges. It pointed to price rise, unemployment, youth unrest, favours to industrialists and the concentration of the country's wealth in the hands of influential industrialists.

Concern was also expressed about democratic institutions, the judiciary, the Election Commission and Parliament. It also mentioned questions of national security, allegations of paper leaks in examinations, student protests and the crisis in agriculture.

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) asked whether India would have won freedom and become a republic without public participation. The editorial said: "Had the people not joined the freedom struggle, would India have got independence or the status of a republic? Was the movement for the Ram temple, or Anna Hazare's movement inspired by the Sangh, anarchy? Should the Sangh apologise to the country for bringing to power a regime that is destroying the country?"

The party said a movement should be judged by its demands and methods, and should not be dismissed merely because it challenges the government.

Concluding its criticism, the editorial said mass movements keep a check on the use of power and give citizens a way to voice their grievances. The Thackeray faction appealed to Bhagwat and the Sangh leadership not to support a political line that threatens democratic institutions. The editorial also asserted that peaceful protests against the government's policies and its alleged failures rest on democratic principles and are an important part of holding those in power accountable.