Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists allegedly assaulted a food stall operator in Kalyan area of Thane district, accusing him of making derogatory remarks against Marathi people and Raj Thackeray. Taking cognisance of the viral video, a police official said the law and order monitoring has been stepped up. The incident occurred at a hotel in Durgamata Mandir Chowk area on Friday.
The video clip shows MNS's Kalyan (East) office-bearer Kush Rajput and other workers confronting the operator of a South Indian food outlet and beating him up. He was forced to apologise and made to promise that he would not make such remarks in future. The incident comes against the backdrop of MNS workers thrashing a north Indian sweet shop owner in the Mira Bhayandar area, also in Thane district, for being unable to speak Marathi.
Last week, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that there is no dispute between the Marathi and Hindi-speaking communities and warned against those trying to stoke tensions, ANI reported.
“I would like to advise Nishikant Dubey not to get involved in this dispute because some people deliberately want to discuss this dispute, and his speech gives them the strength to dispute. There is no such dispute between Marathi and non-Marathi in Maharashtra,” said CM Fadnavis at a press conference.
He further emphasised that Mumbai has always been a melting pot of communities.
"There is no such controversy in Mumbai either. In Mumbai, Marathi and non-Marathi people live together. They have been living together for many generations. There has never been any enmity or wrangling between them," he added, urging people to stay away from the language row, calling it “a trap.”
The controversy in the State began with a government resolution (GR) issued on April 16 mandating the introduction of Hindi as a third language for students from Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English medium schools. The move drew sharp criticism, with many accusing the state government of attempting to impose Hindi.Amid mounting pressure, CM Fadnavis announced the withdrawal of the April 16 GR in early July.