“You Have To Speak Marathi In Maharashtra”: Minister After Shopkeeper Assault In Thane | India News

Maharashtra minister Yogesh Kadam said on Thursday that you have to speak Marathi in Maharashtra.

“In Maharashtra, you have to speak Marathi. If you don’t know Marathi, your attitude shouldn’t be that you won’t speak Marathi. If anyone disrespects Marathi in Maharashtra, we will enforce our laws,” ANI quoted Kadam as saying. 

His statement comes amid outrage over a viral video of a food stall owner in Thane being assaulted for purportedly refusing to speak in Marathi.

Kadam criticised the people involved in the assault of the food stall owner, saying that they should not have taken the law into their own hands. 

“Those who beat up (the shop owner) should not take the law into their own hands. They should have filed a complaint against the concerned person; action would have been taken,” he said. 

On a viral video of a shop owner in Thane assaulted for purportedly refusing to speak in Marathi, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray says, 

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray claimed that the assault incident was not about Marathi and non-Marathi. He added that the incident happened after an official wasn’t allowed to charge his phone at the stall. 

“I talked to Rajan Vichare ji on the video, and he told me that this is neither about Marathi and non-Marathi, nor about Maharashtra and North India, nor about any community or society. An official had gone into the shop to charge his phone and he wasn’t allowed to do so, which led to a fight and the person was beaten. A lady saved the person. This has gone into a police complaint,”  ANI quoted Thackeray as saying. 

Thane Food Stall Incident

The incident occurred on Tuesday when a man, while purchasing food, requested the stall owner to communicate in Marathi. When the stall owner questioned this request, the man became angry and began shouting at him. The man’s companions joined him and slapped the stall owner during the altercation.

The viral video of the incident shows several men confronting and assaulting the food vendor.  

Police have registered an FIR against the persons under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and a probe is on into the case.