2003 All-India Railway Recruitment Board examination attack

In 2003, the Shiv Sena claimed that out of 500 candidates from Maharashtra, only ten passed the Railway exams, while 90% of the successful candidates were from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The party’s activists protested by damaging a railway recruitment office, arguing that too many non-Marathi people were competing for jobs in Maharashtra. As a result of attacks on Biharis traveling to Mumbai for the exams, the central government decided to delay the exams.

## Attacks

India has delayed exams for people applying for state-run railway jobs after threats from local nationalist groups. Thousands of candidates, mostly from outside the state, had come to Mumbai for the second round of tests, which was supposed to take place on Sunday.

Nationalist groups had warned of violence against people from other states who were competing for government jobs. This raised concerns, especially because clashes over railway jobs in Assam have already led to at least 27 deaths and many homes being destroyed in recent days.

The violence has mostly been directed at people from Bihar, with some in Assam believing that outsiders are taking jobs meant for locals. Last week, passengers from Assam were attacked in Bihar after Assamese youth blocked people from Bihar from attending railway job interviews.

To restore order, the government sent in troops and imposed curfews.

On Monday, activists from the Shiv Sena party in Mumbai damaged a railway recruitment office to protest against outsiders being included in the 650,000 candidates competing for 2,200 railway jobs. Around 150,000 were supposed to take part in the test for jobs related to track and wagon maintenance.

These railway jobs, although considered low-level, are highly sought after due to the job security, pensions, and other benefits.

A spokesman for the railway ministry said the tests were postponed to allow time for the situation to calm down. Shiv Sena’s Kiran Wadwikar said the protests had ended now that the exams had been delayed. He added that his party would have no problem with the recruitment process if 80% of the candidates were from the state.

## Speech after the Attack

Mr. Suman and Mr. Jha should look into why people in Mumbai don't like Biharis. They need to advise their community on basic rules of public behavior. Biharis are often seen as people who bend the rules to get things done. "We don't want Maharashtra to become like Bihar," Mr. Thackeray told TNN after meeting with Mr. Suman and Mr. Jha.

Earlier, Mr. Thackeray had a discussion with party leader Bal Thackeray, updating him on the impact of the anti-Bihari protests. Mr. Raj Thackeray's speech in Pune on Sunday clearly shows that the Sena is not planning to stop its campaign against Bihari workers.

## Infobox (civil conflict)

- **title**: 2003 All-India Railway Recruitment Board examination attack
- **partof**: Violence in India
- **image size**: 300px
- **place**: Mumbai and Nagpur in Maharashtra
- **fatalities**: 27 killed
- **side1a**:  Shiv Sena
- **side2a**: UP-Bihar workers side
- **date**: 24 November 2003
- **leadfigures1**:  Bal Thakray
 Raj Thakrey
- **leadfigures2**: Unknown
- **result**: The Cancellation of Examination and fulfilling the demands of Shiv Sena