The language dispute in Maharashtra has deepened to such an extent that Raj Thackeray’s party MNS workers have taken to the streets. The situation is that a few days ago party workers beat up a food stall owner. It was opposed by merchant organizations. Now in response, MNS workers have taken out a rally on Tuesday, where the police is also taking strict action. It is being told that this rally was taken out without the permission of the police and due to this, there was a situation of heavy traffic jams and tension in Thane district. Even before the rally started, the police took several prominent leaders, including Thane and Palghar chief Avinash Jadhav of MNS, into custody at 3:30 in the morning. Reacting to this, MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said, “This situation is like an emergency. Our leaders were arrested in the morning while the rally of Gujarati traders is being given full respect. Is this Maharashtra government or Gujarat government?” He further said, “Whatever the government does, this rally of Marathi people will definitely be.”
What did Chief Minister Fadnavis say on MNS’s opposition?
Reacting to the matter, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the rally organized by MNS workers was not on the approved route. Therefore, the police had to take action. He said that Maharashtra is a democratic state and anyone can protest here, but first permission has to be obtained for it.
Beating incident and business community’s displeasure
In fact, the dispute started when earlier this month, a food stall owner in Meera-Bhayandar area was beaten by some MNS workers just because he was not talking in Marathi. The video of this incident went viral on social media, after which there is a lot of resentment among the business community. The traders planned a peaceful rally in protest against the incident. MNS described it against Marathi Asmita and took out a rally in protest itself.
What did former CM Prithviraj Chavan say?
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan also expressed displeasure over the whole matter. Prithviraj Chavan said, “If a party beats the people who do not speak Marathi, we will not support them. We strongly condemn it. If the Marathi people live in other states, will they be beaten too?” Appealing to the Chief Minister, he said, “Any law should be taken strict action against him.”
