Bal Thackeray's 'Saamna', 'Dopahar Ka Saamna' Mourn His Death with Black Front Pages; Rare Pictures of Shiv Sena Patriarch [PHOTOS]

Shiv Sena's mouthpiece newspapers 'Saamna' and 'Dopahar Ka Saamna' have paid respect to their founder-editor Bal Thackeray on Sunday with full black front pages.

Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena supremo who died on Saturday after prolonged illness, established the Marathi newspaper, Saamna, in 1988 and Hindi newspaper, Dopahar Ka Saamna, in 1993. Both publications were part of Thackeray's life since their launch and this is the first time that the newspapers had come out with black pages.

The Shiv Sena patriarch used the newspapers as the best medium to convey his views on various political and social issues. Thackeray, who started his career as a political cartoonist, often wooed his fans through his newspapers and used them to lash out at politicians and leaders of the country.

On Sunday, Thackeray's favoured newspaper, Saamna, featured a smiling photograph of him with a caption that read "Aaple Saheb Gele" (Our Boss Departs). The inside pages gave a special coverage to Thackeray's life and death with headlines like "Ishwari Avtarache Swargarohan" (A divine avatar goes to heaven) and "Balasaheb navache vadal shaant zhale" (A storm cloud called Balasaheb is peaceful).

His Dopahar Ka Saamna, which does not come on Sunday, also brought out a special edition on Nov 18 to pay last respects to the departed leader. The inside pages were printed in sheer black fonts against a grey background. According to Prem Shukla, executive editor of Dopahar Ka Saamna, this is also the first time in Indian history that the two newspapers came out in black pages on the same day.

To contact the editor, e-mail: