About The Shetty Community Insulted By Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad In Slapgate
Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad has added xenophobia to his barbaric display from three days ago - when he punched a canteen staffer over 'stale food' and bragged about it on live TV - after he blamed communities from the southern states for having "defamed" Maharashtra's culture.
Speaking to NDTV Friday, Gaikwad accused the 'Shetty community' - a common surname in the Bunt community that comes from coastal Karnataka - of "playing with our lives for a long time..."
"... my stomach isn't good. I have been disturbed over it for the last 20 years. The slightest mistake can give me a stomach ache," he complained to NDTV, "... these Shettys of the south have defamed Maharashtra's culture, be it in terms of dance bars or ladies bars..."
READ | Sena MLA Who Slapped Canteen Staff Targets South Indians
"These things have been going on for a long time and are being done by the Shetty community... it is not written on his (the canteen owner's) forehead but it belongs to them..." he raved.
Who Are The Shettys?
The Bunt community, members of which often use the surname 'Shetty', come from coastal Karnataka's Tulu region and claim descent from the Alupa (also called Aluva or Aluka) kings who ruled from modern-day Gokarna to areas around Mangaluru for about 1,200 years.
Scholars believe the Bunts were largely a warrior-aristocracy class with a matrilineal system, and live on today in people with surnames like Shetty, Rai, Hegde, and Chowta.
Today Mumbai is home to over 10 lakh Bunts with the Shetty surname alone, as also large numbers with Rai surname, the more famous among which are Bollywood stars Suniel Shetty, Shilpa Shetty, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, as well as filmmaker Rohit Shetty.
Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a member of the Bunt community (File).
And an estimated 6,000 people with the Shetty surname operate restaurants, canteens, and other eateries in Mumbai, including, reports indicate, that which was assaulted by Gaikwad.
Shilpa Shetty, for example, owns the high-end hospitality brand called Bastian that launched a Peruvian-Asian restaurant - called Inka - in March.
The community is also known for running lunch homes in the city.
The connection between the community and the restaurant business is strong, and is widely seen as the result of entrepreneurial skills and a love for food and hospitality.
Sanjay Gaikwad's Shocking Rant
Gaikwad - who faces a police case, albeit with non-cognisable charges, which means he is unlikely to be arrested - had raged about non-Marathi communities running 'dance bars', the polite name for establishments that offer sexual services for money.
"The people of Maharashtra have never run a dance bar or a ladies bar... they have never done such acts. Only outsiders do such acts," he declared to NDTV.
WATCH | Sena 'Slapgate' MLA Walks Out On NDTV Over Tough Questions
The Sena MLA - who remains unabashedly unapologetic about his shocking actions - on Thursday walked out of a live interview after NDTV tried to hold him to account, demanding to know what gave him, or any other politician, the right to assault someone or take the law into their own hands.
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