Bal Thackeray dies

Firebrand Indian right wing politician Bal Thackeray, who founded Shiv Sena party, died in Mumbai yesterday after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Thackeray, 86, “has breathed his last", his physician Jalil Parkar told a huge crowd assembled outside the politician's house in Bandra locality of India's financial capital Mumbai.
Considered one of India's most controversial and divisive politicians, Thackeray had been on a ventilator earlier after his health deteriorated sharply.
Security was enhanced across Mumbai and thousands of police and paramilitary personnel deployed on the streets to prevent violence following the death of Thackeray known for strident Hindutva ideology and rabble-rousing speeches.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who condoled Thackeray's death, appealed for calm and sobriety. He also spoke to Bal Thackeray's son Uddhav, the Shiv Sena executive preseident, to express condolence.
Thackeray's Shiv Sena party became synonymous with deadly communal violence during its campaign to protect local Marathi-speaking people and their culture from migrant workers.
The funeral for the founder and president of the Shiv Sena (the Army of Shivaji, a Maratha warrior-king who had fought against the Mughal empire) would be held today.
Nicknamed "The Tiger" because of his fearlessness and readiness to take on any opponent, a Bollywood film "Sarkar" has been made many believe loosely based on Thackeray's life. Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan, his son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya are in lead roles of the film.
Shiv Sena, which has controlled Mumbai's city council since mid-1990s, is a staunch ally of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
President Pranab Mukherjee also condoled Thackeray's death and Manmohan Singh cancelled a dinner on Saturday night for BJP leaders to show respect for Thackeray.
A stream of politicians, cutting across party lines, and top Bollywood personalities had visited Thackeray's house in the past few days.
It was Shiv Sena which renamed Bombay into Mumbai to show its Marathi pride.
A self-confessed admirer of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, Bal Thackeray was one of the most controversial figures who was disenfranchised for six years by the Election Commission on the charge of communally provocative speech.
Born on January 23, 1926 to a social activist father who played a key role in the movement to establish the Marathi-speaking state of Maharashtra, Bal Thackeray began life as a political cartoonist.
But he later became more involved in calling for greater rights for local Marathi-speaking people and protecting their culture and language from migrant workers.