The Shiv Sena on Sunday started an agitation against establishments using the word “Bombay†and targeted a reputed school and a newspaper supplement. Apparently moved by party MP and Executive Editor of the Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana Sanjay Raut’s views in his weekly column, the activists allegedly burnt some copies of Bombay Times, a supplement of The Times of India, the Press Trust of India reported.
“Some unidentified persons have burnt copies of several newspapers outside The Times of India office at 5.30 p.m.,†an officer at the Azad Maidan police station said. The first incident was reported from the Bombay Scottish School in Central Mumbai’s Mahim, where at least three boards on different entry gates were targeted.
“These are small boards. The miscreants have smeared the word ‘Bombay’ with black colour on the board. Nobody has been held so far. The admission process was just completed and we suspect some disgruntled elements to be at work,†said a senior police officer of the Mahim station.
Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray’s children go to the same elite school. In his column, Mr. Raut says that usage of the word “Bombay†by some people at a time when the city has been renamed Mumbai long ago is a rebellion against the Marathi pride.
