Shiv Sena's Bal Thackeray passes away: Doctor

Thackeray had been in a critical condition since the past few weeks.


Afp November 17, 2012

Bal Keshav Thackeray, one of India's most polarising politicians and leader of an influential right-wing Hindu nationalist party that has ruled Mumbai for much of the past two decades, died on Saturday after suffering a cardiac arrest, one of his doctors said.

Thackeray, 86, has "breathed his last", his physician Jalil Parkar told a huge crowd assembled outside the veteran politician's house in India's financial hub of Mumbai.

Thackeray, the founder and president of the hardline Shiv Sena (Tiger Army) party, was one of the most prominent and outspoken figures of  India's Hindu nationalist movement, and rose to prominence with his fiery rhetoric against immigration in India's richest city.

Thackeray, who was admitted into a central Mumbai hospital in July, died of cardio-respiratory arrest at his home, the doctor, Jalil Parker, said.

Thackeray is one of the best-known and most controversial figures in the western state of Maharashtra and its capital, which his party renamed from Bombay to Mumbai.

COMMENTS (93)

Nitish | 11 years ago | Reply

@Anum: Oh god,what is the problem with you.I dont know your allah and prophet,now OK.I have my own god and you have your own.I will respect my one and you should yours...when i said you should not worship or respect allah?I dont believe in islam or allah...thats it.Its my country india which gives me enough freedom to do so.Seems like if it was in your hand you would have imposed islamic teaching on Indian hindu as well.Its ok ,if you got offended coz of his anti pakistani sentiments.But he didnt do any harm to pakistanis.As far as what he did with muslim in india is concerned,india is not your country.If you will rise your voice ,with the same gall we will retaliate you for what you did with hindus in pakistan.It will be better if you stay away from us coz you well know that india has more power as compared to what it has before.Mind your own business.This religion thing irk us.If you r coming to india or whoever from pakistan is coming to india,be sure that you r going to face blasphemy.This is not the same world.here different people live and different laws applies.if you dont like .pl dont come.Coz of this inherent intolerance in pakistanis, we will not allow them to go for people to people contact.You people will radicalize indian muslim,tearing down our social fabric.

G. Din | 11 years ago | Reply

@robinhoodpande: to k b kale "...balasaheb didnt believe in indias constitution…" Let us assume you are right. Is India's Constitution sacrosanct? If it is, why have we amended it umpteen times? If it is, why are we entertaining the notion of "constitutional amendments"? Was Martin Luther King Jr a traitor, to be condemned? Indian Constitution is a man-made document as is every single constitution in the world. By its very essence, it is a fallible document to the same extent as those who wrote it were fallible. They were no prophets and could not, indeed did not, arrogate to themselves a direct line to God; they were our best at the time who did the best they could under the circumstances, for their times as far as their inherently myopic human vision would let them see. If they missed out on something, it has to be open to corrections/ amendments. The genesis of such amendments/corrections starts on the streets of India. Heed those streets and you avoid a full-blown insurgency such as Maoist. Bala Saheb voiced that discontent of the streets of Mumbai. If you ask me, he did you a favour! Your condemnation of him smacks of ingratitude!

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