Some might find it an odd sort of commemoration, but vandalizing two Airtel showrooms is what Raj Thackeray's men did on Tuesday, on the fourth birthday of their party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

Raj Thackeray addressed MNS workers on Tuesday morning. Hours later, they attacked Airtel showrooms in Mumbai and Thane because Airtel does not use Marathi in its pre-recorded messages for customers. 

Thackeray, in his speech, said Airtel had been warned to switch to Marathi for their Interactive Voice Reponse (IVR) messages - the pre-recorded messages customers hear e.g. Dial 1 for Account Update.

Airtel responded swiftly, committing that Marathi would now be a medium of instruction for its callers along with English and Hindi.

Addressing a press conference later on Tuesday, MNS leader Shirish Parkar said that party representatives will consult with telecom operators like Airtel. However, he said that some of the people involved with the attack on the Airtel showrooms may not have been from the MNS. He said that other telecom operators have got in touch with him after the Airtel vandalisation, and he has reassured them, "we don't want to make the situation worse, we have cautioned our activists."