"If My Soldiers Raise Their Hands...": Raj Thackeray On Attacks Over Marathi

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday sought to defend his party workers' who have been on an assault spree against those holding "anti-Marathi" views, saying he is proud of his "soldiers" and their "befitting response" that stems from their "love" for the local language.

In a post on X, Mr Thackeray referred to the political row over the clash between supporters from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) inside the Vidhan Bhavan on Thursday, and asked why was there no outrage over incidents allegedly insulting the Marathi language. 

His remarks came a day after a video of MNS workers thrashing a shopkeeper in Mumbai's Vikhroli surfaced - the latest in a string of similar assaults on those allegedly against the Marathi-speaking community.

"Yesterday, I saw a video of a violent clash between the workers of the ruling party MLAs and the opposition MLAs in the Vidhan Bhavan area. Seeing this video, I really wondered, 'what has happened to our Maharashtra?' I will ask the Marathi people, 'in whose hands have they handed over Maharashtra?'" Mr Thackeray said in Marathi in a post on X. 

"If my soldiers of Maharashtra raise their hands for the Marathi language and Marathi people, then where are those who are angry with them and our party hiding now?" he added. 

The viral video that surfaced on Thursday shows MNS workers manhandling the shopkeeper and forcing him to publicly apologise over a WhatsApp status deemed offensive to the Marathi-speaking community. The assault took place in the Tagore Nagar area of Vikhroli, a bustling suburb in Mumbai. 

"When someone tries to drive a nail into the throat of the Marathi people, I feel proud that my soldiers of Maharashtra slap that person, not out of personal jealousy, rather for my language and my Marathi people," Mr Thackeray said. 

He also said that a former MNS MLA had once slapped a prominent colleague in the Vidhan Bhavan, not out of personal animosity but because the latter allegedly tried to "belittle the Marathis". He was referring to the MNS MLAs attacking Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi inside the state assembly for taking oath in Hindi and not in Hindi in 2009.

Condemning the brawl inside the Vidhan Bhavan, the MNS chief challenged the government to take action against its "own people". "I challenge the government to take action against its own people if it has any sense left. If you don't want to do that, no problem, but don't teach us common sense when my Maharashtra soldiers will try to set the Marathi opponents straight," he said. 

MNS workers have come under criticism for their continuous targeting and confrontation, fuelled by the language politics in Maharashtra. Last week, a migrant auto-rickshaw driver in Maharashtra's Palghar district was assaulted in full public view by MNS and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) supporters. A few days earlier, an argument between a man named Bhavesh Padolia, a migrant from  Uttar Pradesh, and an auto-rickshaw driver -- himself a migrant -- at Virar station went viral.

On July 1, MNS workers in Thane slapped a street food vendor for refusing to converse in Marathi. 

On Thursday, BJP and NCP (SP) supporters came to blows inside the legislature premises, a day after a heated exchange between legislators from the two parties. Supporters of NCP (Sharad Pawar) MLA Jitendra Awhad and BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar were involved in the fight and came to blows briefly before onlookers separated the two groups, an eyewitness said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the incident does not behove the dignity of the legislature. "Assembly speaker and council chairman should take stringent action against those involved," he said. 

People coming in such large numbers and creating this scene in Vidhan Bhavan is a serious matter, he added.