Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 6 (ANI): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad on Thursday slammed RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi’s remarks that “people coming to Mumbai don’t have to learn Marathi.” He also accused the RSS of creating division based on language.
“He (Bhaiyyaji Joshi) has disrespected our mother language. He took one station’s name and claimed that its language is Gujarati, but he does not understand Mumbai,” Awhad told ANI.
“Mumbai is a place, whoever comes here and embraces it never has to turn back… Earlier, they used to divide in the name of caste, then religion; now it is language,” he added.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray has demanded a sedition case be registered against Bhaiyyaji Joshi.
“A sedition case should be registered against Bhaiyyaji Joshi,” Uddhav Thackeray told reporters.
Joshi, speaking at a program in Mumbai on Wednesday, said that those coming to Mumbai need not learn Marathi. He also said that Gujarati is the “language of the Ghatkopar area in Mumbai.” His remark sparked outrage, with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray accusing him of attempting to divide Maharashtra and disrespecting its linguistic and cultural identity.
“Constantly we see that we from Koshyari to Koratkar to Solapurkar – all of them have been insulting Maharashtra, Maharashtra’s heroes and Maharashtra’s gods. If you see Mr Koshyari, Mr Koratkar and Solapurkar – they have insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule. Today, Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi has insulted Marathi. This will not be tolerated. I challenge him to say something like this in Tamil Nadu or Gujarat. But only because he wants to divide Maharashtra, he is coming and doing this. This is the thought process of Sangh,” Aaditya Thackeray said.
Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis emphasized that the language of Mumbai and the whole state is Marathi.
“In Mumbai, Maharashtra, and the State government’s language is Marathi, and people who live here should learn it. Marathi is a part of the state’s culture and identity, and it is the duty of every citizen to learn it,” Devendra Fadnavis said in the Assembly.
The Maharashtra Assembly was adjourned for five minutes today after a heated debate broke out between the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) over the Marathi language issue.
After the Chief Minister’s statement, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) and the BJP members in the House got into a verbal duel that escalated to such an extent that the Speaker was forced to adjourn proceedings for five minutes.
Congress leader Nana Patole criticised him for shifting focus from critical issues like farmer distress and unemployment in Maharashtra.
“It is their government, it is RSS’s government. Today, farmers’ crops are drying up in Maharashtra. Can’t RSS give suggestions to the government on this?” Patole said. (ANI)
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