Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday issued a fierce advice to his party workers amid the ongoing row over alleged assault of a Mumbai shopkeeper for not speaking in Marathi.
While addressing a joint rally of MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) along with his cousin, Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray advised against violent enforcement of language use and said, “Be it Gujarati or anyone else, they must know Marathi. But there is no need to beat people for not speaking Marathi. [But] if someone creates unnecessary drama, you must hit below their eardrums.”
He also advised against recording the video of the incident, saying that let the victim tell that he has been beaten up.
“And I want to tell you all, don’t slap anyone if they don’t understand. If you beat someone, don’t make a video of the incident. Let the person beaten up tell that he has been beaten up; you don’t need to tell everyone,” he said.
During the rally, his now reunited cousin, Uddhav Thackeray defended “Marathi pride” saying, “Yes, we are goons if we have to do hooliganism for justice.”
Referring to Fadnavis’ statement on the assault of a shopkeeper by MNS workers that “hooliganism” in the name of Marathi would not be tolerated, Uddhav Thackeray said they would keep doing “hooliganism” if they don’t get justice.
“Fadnavis said we won’t tolerate hooliganism for language. If a Marathi manus (person) is asking for justice, and if you are calling us goons, Yes, we are goons; if we have to be goons to get justice, we will do goondagiri,” he said.
Slap Row In Maharashtra
The Thackeray brothers’ comments came amid a series of violent incidents involving MNS workers targeting individuals over language disputes.
Earlier today, the MNS workers vandalised a businessman’s office in Worli after he challenged Raj Thackeray, while asserting that he would not learn Marathi.
The party workers and “goons” of MNS assaulted a Mumbai shopkeeper for not speaking Marathi this week. The attackers have yet to be arrested, despite having filmed the assault and posted it online.
The MNS has refused to apologise or even reprimand those involved in either attack.
Sandeep Deshpande, the party’s Mumbai unit boss, claimed the vicious slaps rained on Babulal Khimji Chaudhary were because the 48-year-old, whose shop has been a fixture in the Mira Road suburb for 20 years, had ‘insulted’ Marathi. “If there is an attempt to insult Marathi, we will respond. It will not be tolerated.”
Earlier in March this year, Raj Thackeray had said that his party would not refrain from “slapping” people if they refuse to speak Marathi in the state. He had cited the Tamil Nadu language row and had said that they “dared” to say “no to Hindi”.
Meanwhile, five MNS supporters were arrested in connection with the attack and further probe into the incident is underway, a Worli police station official said.
Incidentally, police had provided security to Kedia’s office situated at Century Bazar after his post began generating a backlash from MNS supporters.
Amid the row, Fadnavis on Friday said that the state government would not tolerate “hooliganism in the name of language.”
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
