Imposing Hindi is a ‘suicidal’ move: Raj Thackeray
Thackeray also dismissed speculations that his agitation against Hindi was a part of BJP and Fadnavis’s script.
MUMBAI: A day after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis insisted on a three-language formula in the state’s primary schools, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray called it a “suicidal move”.
“This time not only shops but even schools would be closed,” he threatened, while addressing a rally at Mira Road on Friday, where MNS workers had assaulted a shop-owner for not speaking in Marathi. “If the government wants to die by suicide, they should do so,” Thackeray remarked. “We announced a morcha (planned earlier by Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS to protest the purported imposition of Hindi) and they withdrew the decision. Why is Maharashtra’s chief minister hell-bent on making Hindi compulsory?”
“They are testing the waters. If this is accepted, the next step will be to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra. The Centre has been putting pressure for long to make Hindi compulsory – its plan is to attach Mumbai to Gujarat,” he claimed. He also alleged that attempts were being made to change the demography of the Mira Road-Palghar belt, and “once locals are outnumbered, the area will be attached to the neighbouring Gujarat”.
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{{/usCountry}}While reading a book recently by writer and journalist Acharya Atre, Thackeray said he came across the fact that prominent statesman and freedom fighter Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the first to say Mumbai should not be given to Maharashtra. “We used to respect Patel as the Ironman of India, but he has said so,” Thackeray said and underlined how former prime minister Morarji Desai had ordered police to open fire at Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti demonstrators in 1955 and ’56.
{{/usCountry}}While reading a book recently by writer and journalist Acharya Atre, Thackeray said he came across the fact that prominent statesman and freedom fighter Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the first to say Mumbai should not be given to Maharashtra. “We used to respect Patel as the Ironman of India, but he has said so,” Thackeray said and underlined how former prime minister Morarji Desai had ordered police to open fire at Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti demonstrators in 1955 and ’56.
{{/usCountry}}He also dismissed speculations that his agitation against Hindi was a part of BJP and Fadnavis’s script, and that both are in fact close, evidenced by each visiting the other’s house frequently. “What script? Friends or foes, there will be no compromise when it comes to Marathi. I have not done it before and will never do so,” he said. “We are Hindu but not Hindi. If you are trying to kill Marathi under the guise of Hindutva, you will not find a more hardcore Marathi than me.”
{{/usCountry}}He also dismissed speculations that his agitation against Hindi was a part of BJP and Fadnavis’s script, and that both are in fact close, evidenced by each visiting the other’s house frequently. “What script? Friends or foes, there will be no compromise when it comes to Marathi. I have not done it before and will never do so,” he said. “We are Hindu but not Hindi. If you are trying to kill Marathi under the guise of Hindutva, you will not find a more hardcore Marathi than me.”
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He also said earlier in the month shopkeeper Babulal Chowdhury “was slapped because of his arrogance following which political parties instigated traders to go on a protest march”.
Responding to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s comment that Thackeray brothers “would be beaten up outside Maharashtra”, he said, “I challenge Dubey to come to Mumbai and we will sink him in the Arabian Sea”.
Reacting to Thackeray’s remarks, BJP’s state spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, “Raj is out to show there is a dispute between Marathi and Hindi speaking people. CM Devendra Fadnavis has already said that Marathi is compulsory in Maharashtra and Hindi is not. For years the issue of separating Mumbai from Maharashtra has been raised ahead of the civic polls.”
In a similar vein, Shiv Sena national spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam said, “The old script comes out ahead of the BMC election. No one can separate Mumbai from Maharashtra. This is being done just to provoke Marathi people, but Marathis understand this political gimmick well.”
NCP legislator Amol Mitkari said, “We agree with Raj Thackeray that Marathi must be promoted in Maharashtra, but condemn thrashing people. We also strive for Marathis and welcome some of his points, as also his remarks on Nishikant Dubey.”
