'Insult to South Indians': BJP hits back at Raj Thackeray over controversial remark

Mumbai: The BJP has hit out at the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS alliance and Raj Thackeray for the ‘uthao lungi, bajao pungi’ remark saying that it is "an insult to South Indian people."

During the Shivaji Park rally, Raj, the MNS founder-president and his close aide and the party’s Mumbai unit chief and spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande referred to the ‘uthao lungi, bajao pungi’ slogan.

After Balasaheb Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena on 19 June 1966, he used the controversial slogan "uthao lungi, bajao pungi” - against the South Indian migrants.

The comment from Raj and his aide came in the backdrop of IPS officer-turned-politician and Tamil Nadu BJP vice president K Annamalai's statement - “Bombay is not a Maharashtra city but an international city” - which has not gone down well among the Thackerays.

Addressing the rally, Raj had said: “One rasmalai came from Tamil Nadu...What is your connection to come here…that is why Balasaheb had said….hatao lungi bajao pungi.”

During the mid-sixties, the Shiv Sena was upset with the South Indians, who held a large number of clerical, banking and white-collar jobs in Mumbai’s private sector, thus taking opportunities away from the local Marathi-speaking population.

Senior BJP leader Niranjan Shetty slammed Raj and Deshpande for the comments.

“The slogan ‘uthao lungi, bajao pungi’ (remove the lungi, blow the pipe) amounts to targeting South Indian people,” said Shetty.

“The situation in the mid-sixties and now is totally different…it is around 60 years now…the new generation is not going to fall in the trap of Thackeray brothers now…people will show them their place,” Shetty told DH on Monday.

“The people of Mumbai will now play the tune and teach the Thackeray brothers a lesson. The lungi is fundamentally the attire of the working class people of India. Sandeep Deshpande and the Thackeray brothers have insulted the working class people. For hundreds of years, people in India commonly wore the dhoti,” said Shetty.

Going into the background, Shetty, in a statement, said: “The lungi was introduced to India through cultural exchange with South-East Asia. Because the lungi is easy to wear and comfortable, it became popular among the working class, especially in places with hot and humid climates. In the coastal states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, the lungi is the attire of the working class, known by different names such as Veshti, Mundu, and Kaili, while in Punjab and Haryana it is known by various names such as Tamba, Tehmat, and Lach.”

“The lungi, also known as Sarong, is the principal attire in a vast region including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Burma, Brunei, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Africa, and the southern Arabian Peninsula. And yes, the Prophet Muhammad of Islam also often wore the lungi, known as Sarong, and a barda,” added Shetty.

Besides, he added: "Prophet Muhammad also often wore the lungi, known as Sarong, and a barda. Now, Deshpande should definitely ask the Thackeray brothers whether this slogan fits into the ‘green politics’ that the Thackeray brothers have newly adopted. In the Indian subcontinent, the lungi is typically pure white. Although it is colorful in some places, Islam has influenced its color to become green. The Thackeray brothers might have drawn inspiration from this green lungi.”