Bal Thackeray

Bal Keshav Thackeray was an Indian politician who founded the Shiv Sena, a rightwing Marathi ethnocentric party active mainly in the western state of Maharashtra. Holding views attacking Muslims and once praising Adolf Hitler, he was known for his inflammatory writings and was seen as a good orator. A controversial leader, he had a large political influence in the state, especially in Mumbai his party frequently used violent means against its detractors. Thackeray was blamed for inciting violence against Muslims during the 19921993 Bombay riots in the Srikrishna Commission Report, an inquiry by the government.

Thackeray was born in Pune onJanuary 1926 to Ramabai and Keshav Sitaram Thackeray . He was the eldest of nine siblings and belonged to the Marathi Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu community. Keshav was a progressive social activist and writer who was involved in the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement of the 1950s that argued for the creation of a unified state called Maharashtra for Marathispeaking areas with Mumbai as its capital. Keshav was said to have supported the use of strategic violence as means to achieve that objective and left the movement because of his stance against communists. Keshavs political philosophy inspired Thackeray.

Source: Wikipedia