7th Rangers: As Uddhav Thackeray renamed Aurangabad and Osmanabad before resigning, here is how Congress and NCP flipped-flopped on the issue for over 2.5 years
Fighting Seventh
The Fighting Rangers On War, Politics and Burning Issues
Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
On Wednesday, in his last cabinet meeting as a Chief Minister,
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray approved renaming two cities
Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv respectively.
The Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP have found themselves on a
sticky wicket as Uddhav Thackeray decided to rename Aurangabad as
āSambhajinagarā and Osmanabad as āDharashivā in his last cabinet meeting
before resigning as the Chief Minister. There had been a longstanding
demand for renaming the two districts in Maharashtra, and equally old
was the Congress and NCPās opposition to the idea.
On Wednesday, in his last cabinet meeting as a Chief Minister, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray approved
renaming two cities Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Sambhaji Nagar and
Dharashiv respectively. It is speculated that Uddhav Thackeray took the
decision igniting Hindutva, after the Eknath Shinde-camp that rebelled
again him justified their splitting over the same issue.
However, it was more of a challenge for the Congress and the NCP
which had long opposed the renaming of the cities. As the names
āAurangabadā and āOsmanabadā suggested Muslim identity, the partiesā
opposition to the renaming got much to do with their vote banks ā which
are predominantly Muslim and āsecularā in parts of Marathwada in
Maharashtra.
The parties however, agreed to Thackerayās proposal and went ahead to
pass the decision. But, there were reports of Congress leaders Varsha
Gaikwad and Aslam Sheikh walking out of the cabinet while the decision
was been taken. Though they have not cleared the reasons, it is being
speculated that they registered their protest because of the Hindutva
agenda Uddhav Thackeray suddenly started working on.
