Mumbai comes to halt for Thackeray’s funeral

Nearly 20,000 policemen were on hand because of the violent history of the group.

The mourners, however, remained calm and orderly as Mr Thackeray’s body was cremated at Shivaji park where he had made his political debut by addressing his first public rally 46 years ago.

His son and successor, Uddhav Thackeray, lit the funeral pyre amid chants of “Thackeray is immortal” by the supporters, some of whom wept.

Top Indian politicians, industrialists and Bollywood stars including LK Advani, Sharad Pawar, Anil Ambani and Amitabh Bachchan earlier placed floral wreaths alongside Mr Thackeray, who was laid out wearing with his trademark sunglasses.

Mr Thackeray, an 86-year-old powerful, rabble-rousing orator for Shiv Sena – which means Shiva’s Army – died on Saturday following a cardio-respiratory arrest. He had been ill for several weeks.

Life in Mumbai came to a halt as people voluntarily closed shops and kept taxis and auto-rickshaws off the roads. However, state-run buses and trains helped to ply Mr Thackeray’s supporters to attend his cremation.

Indian media reports said more than 1.5 million people attended his funeral procession. “Mumbai has not seen a congregation like this in the past 50 years,” said Kumar Ketkar, editor of a local daily newspaper.

Mr Thackeray’s Sena is among the most xenophobic of India’s Hindu right-wing political parties.

In 1992, members of Hindu right-wing groups, including the Sena, were instrumental in destroying a 16th century mosque in north India that they said was the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama, and Mr Thackeray was blamed for the violence and rioting that followed. In Mumbai alone, nearly 1,000 people were killed.

His extreme regional and religious parochialism led him to advocate Hindu suicide bombers.