By News18
After a viral video showed a shop owner being attacked in Mumbai鈥檚 Mira Road for allegedly refusing to speak Marathi, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said things would escalate if the state鈥檚 identity is disrespected.
鈥淲e want our mother tongue, Marathi, to be respected, and no language is forcefully imposed. We don鈥檛 want anybody to take the law into their hands, but when it is the other way round and Marathi or Maharashtra is insulted, things can escalate,鈥 Thackeray said.
His remarks were in reference to Babulal Khimji Chaudhary (48), the owner of a sweet shop in Mira Road, who was allegedly thrashed by suspected members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), after his staff responded to them in Hindi.
The dispute intensified when Chaudhary mentioned that his employees, being from out of state, weren鈥檛 proficient in Marathi. When the men allegedly asked him which language is spoken in Maharashtra, Chaudhary replied that all languages are spoken.
State Minister Yogesh Kadam also reacted to the incident, saying that while the men should have taken the law into their own hands, people have to speak Marathi in Maharashtra, and if anyone disrespects the language, laws will be enforced against them.
鈥淚n Maharashtra, you have to speak Marathi. If you don鈥檛 know Marathi, your attitude shouldn鈥檛 be that you won鈥檛 speak Marathi,鈥 he said, adding that those who were upset with the shop owner should have lodged a complaint.
An FIR has been registered against seven MNS workers under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in connection with the incident. This came after the Maharashtra government rolled back a policy of introducing Hindi as a third language in the school syllabus after heavy backlash.