MNS workers assault Thane shop owner; FIR lodged

The MNS workers reportedly assaulted the shop owner for not speaking in Marathi.

On Tuesday night, MNS workers allegedly assaulted a Thane shop owner for not speaking Marathi. A video of the incident has been widely shared since then. The group of men, wearing Raj Thackeray led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) scarves, were seen visiting the shop to buy food and then assaulted the shop owner for denying to speak in Marathi.

MNS workers allegedly assaulted Thane’s shop owner for not speaking in Marathi.

The incident happened in the Bhayander area of Maharashtra’s Thane. It happened shortly after the Maharashtra government withdrew its orders on implementing the three-language policy in the state, leading to the opposition terming it ‘Hindi imposition.’ While the men were at the shop, one of them asked the owner, “Which language is spoken in the state?” after he spoke with them in Hindi. The owner replied, saying, “All languages,” as per the PTI news agency. This annoyed the man, and he shouted at him, slapping him several times, along with his companions.

The owner filed a complaint.

The shop owner then filed a complaint, after which the Kashimira police registered an FIR against unidentified persons under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). An investigation was underway into the case, an official said. The MNS, led by Raj Thackeray, has been openly advocating for the use of the Marathi language in the state. It had earlier staged a massive protest in Mumbai on June 28 against the policy, which mandates the teaching of Hindi, English, and Marathi in the state’s schools.

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