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In 'Bhaiyya' vs 'Manoos' war, economy loses out
Published on Sat, Feb 16, 2008 at 00:20, Updated at Sat, Feb 16, 2008 in 
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INSIDER VS OUTSIDER: There are no statistics but people say almost 4,000 north Indians have already left the city.
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Shantinagar (Maharashtra): Returning from work together has been a daily and a time-honoured routine for Vivekanand Singh and Vinayak Kedare - One, a north Indian, the other a Maharashtrian.
The two have been friends and neighbours for 12 years.
But things have changed. After the anti-north Indian crusade launched by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, more than half of Nashik’s north Indian population have fled and Vivekanda says he too will leave if threatened again.
“Maharashtrians are nice people but some people have created an atmosphere of distrust and fear. I want to tell both Raj Thackeray and the “Hindi” politicians that while you stoke the fire, no one comes to see what it does to people like us,” says Vivekanand.
There are no statistics but people say almost 4,000 north Indians have already left the city.
“We've stayed together for years now. There has never been any problem. We are all united,” Kedare says.
In Shantinagar, many like Vivekanand have lived peacefully for years with the Maharashtrians but now they are fleeing in thousands and a direct impact of that is being felt on the city’s industries.
V K Gupta owns a small-scale industry that manufactures auto parts in Nashik's industrial area. Half of his employees - most of who were north Indians - have left. Now he is struggling to meet deadlines.
“Our production has gone down by 70 per cent because of fear. It’s not easy for us,” he says.
Industrialists warn the shortage of labour will have a long-term effect
Says President, Ambad Industrial Manufactureres Association, Dhananjay Bele, “As of now, only small-scale industries are getting affected. But soon, this will spill over to the large industries.”
While the mass exodus of ‘Bhaiyyas’ has created vacancies in the industry, the question is where are the ‘Marathi Manus’ to fill them?
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