In a shocking remark, BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Ashish Shelar has sought to compare the violence on non-Marathi speaking migrants in Maharashtra with the Pahalgam terror attack, as the language row emerged as a major political flashpoint ahead of local body elections in the state.
The language controversy has drawn battlelines in the state’s political landscape with pro-Marathi groups, especially Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), being accused of assaulting and threatening non-Marathi speakers. In the latest incidents of violence, MNS workers were seen slapping a shopkeeper in Mumbai after one of his employees spoke to them in Hindi.
“In Pahalgam, people were killed on the basis of their religion. And here in Maharashtra, Hindus are being killed only because of their language. What is the difference between these two?” asked the senior BJP leader.
In the ghastly attack on April 22, at least 25 tourists were shot dead by terrorists on the basis of their religion in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam. A pony ride operator died too while trying to fight one of the attackers.
The language controversy in Maharashtra gained momentum in recent days with the state’s push for the three-language policy that the Thackerays, both Uddhav and Raj, believe was an attempt to impose Hindi on the native Marathi speakers.
The government rolled back the policy after opposition from the MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT), ending in a reunion of the estranged Thackeray cousins after two decades. The cousins claimed “victory” at a mega rally in Mumbai yesterday, holding hands and hinting at a change in state politics.
The language controversy also saw an aggressive campaign to push the Marathi cause, with MNS workers being accused of doing “goondagiri“.
Uddhav Thackeray, the former chief minister who now heads a divided Shiv Sena faction, backed the radical stance adopted by Raj Thackeray’s supporters at yesterday’s rally, saying those seeking justice for the Marathi language are being termed as “goons”.
“If a Marathi manus (person) is asking for justice, and if you are calling us goons, then yes, we are goons,” said Uddhav Thackeray. “Try to touch Maharashtra and see what happens,” warned his cousin Raj Thackeray, replicating the aggressive approach to protect the Marathi identity adopted by his uncle and Marathi icon Bal Thackeray.
Using sarcasm to describe the reunion, Mr Shelar said the BJP believes in the “joint family system”. But at yesterday’s rally, “Raj Thackeray’s speech was incomplete, and Uddhav’s reflected the pain of losing power,” said the senior leader.
He also accused Uddhav Thackeray of shifting alliances to quench his thirst for power.
“Uddhav Thackeray cannot live without power. He can go to any extent for the chair. Neither ideology matters, nor the Marathi identity, nor Maharashtra (for him). When he did not get the Chief Minister’s post, he left the BJP and went to Congress-NCP. Now he wants the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) seat, so he is ready to go on any platform,” said Mr Shelar.
He also assured that the BJP will protect the Marathis and Hindus. “We do politics of development, not hatred. We will go to the election on the issue of development,” he added.
