Mumbai, Apr 14 (PTI) Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Monday recalled the contribution of B R Ambedkar in the creation of Maharashtra and how his residence in Mumbai became the meeting centre for the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti.

In a post on the birth anniversary of Ambedkar, Thackeray said it is necessary to remember how he supported the struggle for a unified Maharashtra (Samyukta Maharashtra Chalval) in its time.

The MNS chief said it is necessary to remember how he responded to all the arguments that were being put forward for not having a unified Maharashtra including Mumbai.

During the initial period of the struggle for Samyukta Maharashtra, Comrade Dange, S M Joshi, Acharya Atre and other leaders of the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti had met Ambedkar at his residence in Delhi and sought the cooperation of his and his followers in the struggle.

At that time, Babasaheb also said ‘my Scheduled Castes Federation would stand by the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti like the Rock of Gibraltar’, Thackeray said.

“He didn’t just stop there. Rajgriha, his Mumbai residence, became the meeting centre of the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti. My grandfather Prabodhankar Thackeray was also present in these meetings,” the MNS leader said in a post on X.

Ambedkar himself had given a statement to the Dhar Commission on October 14, 1948 supporting the demand for a separate state for Marathi speakers. This statement contains a detailed explanation of how Mumbai is an integral part of Maharashtra and this explanation can be read in ‘Maharashtra as a Linguistic Province’, he said.

“The reason for telling all this in detail is that Babasaheb went ahead and gave a blunt answer to the arguments such as ‘Mumbai was never a part of Maharashtra’ or ‘How could Mumbai become a part of Maharashtra just because there is a large population of Marathi speakers there’.

“He had said that the original identity of Hindus and Muslims was not erased because Muslims attacked India and Hindus. Just because Gujaratis or other speakers came to Mumbai, it does not mean that the original identity of Mumbai was erased, the original identity of Mumbai is the province of Marathi speakers, and it cannot be changed,” Thackeray recounted.

Later, Ambedkar passed away and leaders like Dadasaheb Gaikwad, Barrister B C Kamble joined the fight for a united Maharashtra with zeal.

“Barrister B C Kamble had brought Morarji Desai to his knees by raising questions in the Legislative Assembly about the police action against the unified Maharashtra protesters. In 1960, Maharashtra was unified along with Mumbai. Babasaheb was not there to witness this. But Babasaheb’s contribution to this struggle cannot be forgotten,” Thackeray added.

Today, when the Marathi language and the Marathi people are once again being given secondary status in Mumbai, the Marathi people should not forget how many great people had spent their energy for this fight, Thackeray pointed out.

“And if we forget this and do not come together as Marathi, what was the struggle for?” Thackeray asked. PTI PR BNM