MNS workers assault Thane shop owner for not speaking in Marathi; FIR filed | Latest News India

A group of men, wearing Raj Thackeray led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) scarves, allegedly assaulted a shop owner for denying to speak in Marathi on Tuesday in the Bhayander area of Maharashtra’s Thane.

This incident occurred shortly after the Maharashtra government withdrew its orders on the implementation of the three-language policy in the state, which lead to the opposition terming it as ‘hindi imposition’.

A video of the incident, which went viral on social media on Tuesday night, showed that the men had visited the shop to buy food. While they were still at the shop, one of the them asked the owner, “Which language is spoken in the state,” after he talked to them in Hindi. The owner replied saying “all languages,” according to PTI news agency.

This annoyed the man. He shouted at him, and slapped him several times along with his companions.

The owner filed a complaint after which the Kashimira police registered an FIR against unidentified persons under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). A probe was on into the case, an official said.

The MNS led by Raj Thackeray has been overtly supporting the use of Marathi language in the state. It had earlier staged a massive protest in Mumbai on Jun 28 against the policy, which mandates the teaching of Hindi, English, and Marathi in the schools of the state.

“There is no question of making Hindi compulsory. Because Hindi is not the national language,” wrote Thackeray on one of his X posts. “But when such a compulsion was forced upon Maharashtra, we raised our voice and will continue to raise it,” he added.

Recently Thackeray had also said, “People are trying to make the 150 to 200-year-old Hindi language appear superior to Marathi, which has a history of over 3,000 years. This is unacceptable, and I will not allow it,” while opposing the “imposition of Hindi” as a third language for primary classes in Maharashtra schools.