"Say Politely We Are Learning": Ajit Pawar's 'Advice' Amid Marathi Row

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar suggested a shortcut to avoid trouble today to non-Marathi people caught in the crosshairs of the language row in the state. "People living here who do not know Marathi -- they should say politely that 'We do not know Marathi, we are learning it'. If you say this, then there will be no problem," he said as the row over language snowballed and reached parliament. 

Earlier today, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey was targeted by women MPs from Maharashtra over his "Marathi logon ko hum yahan patak patak ke marenge (will soundly thrash Maharashtrians here) " comment. 
Surrounded by furious women MP asking what he meant, Mr Dubey had beaten a hasty retreat, saying "Jai Maharashtra". 

"The language of the state you live in should be respected," Ajit Pawar said today. "From Maharashtra to Jammu and Kashmir, everyone should be proud of their mother tongue... But what is going on in the name of language at present...," he added, trailing off. 

Mr Dubey's comment was a response to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's "dubo-dubo ke maarenge" threat. 

The MNS, which made its niche in the state with an aggressive version of the son-of-the soil movement, has taken the language row seriously, with Mr Thackeray himself making a series of strong comments. 

Explaining how things escalate, Mr Pawar said, "Sometimes it happens that some people react... they become arrogant... this does not work. Where you work... what the people there have to say, what is their thinking, you should think about all this sometimes. And everyone should live together happily".

His comments follow several instances of confrontations between non-Marathi and Marathi speakers, often from the MNS, in the backdrop of the three-language row and the alleged imposition of Hindi. 

Earlier this week yet another man was beaten up by MNS workers for not speaking in Marathi and saying, "I will not speak in the language. What will you do?"

MNS workers have also threatened to break all signboards in Gujarati language on the National Highway and install ones in Marathi. Already some signboards of hotels and shops have been broken on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, have condemned the attacks and said resorting to violence over people not speaking Marathi is unacceptable. Raj Thackeray has said he is "proud of his soldiers".