In an escalating language row in Maharashtra, some Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists were arrested on Tuesday on their way to a protest rally in Thane. Raj Thackeray has organized the protest on behalf of his party as a result of the new hostilities that revolve around the utilization of the Marathi language publicly.
Although the MNS had the official license to carry out the protest, the state retracted it, following the insistence by the party to march along a specific path. Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, explained that they ultimately left it to the police to decide on the route based on law and order considerations, although a permit had been given in principle to the protest. “The police commissioner informed me that they had advised them of an alternative route, yet the MNS workers had insisted on going the way they intended to do. It is due to this reason that the license was called off,” said Fadnavis.
The respective prohibitory orders were made in the region to stop any movement of a large crowd, and in retaliation, MNS workers charged the government of stifling what they referred to as a people’s Marathi march. The demonstration followed a past episode where a merchant had claimed to have been beaten up by a mob after failing to speak Marathi, and hence, the business fraternity also held a counter demonstration.
MNS leaders also accused the state of using double standards as it was letting traders have their agitations in Mira Road and refused to let MNS have the same route. MNS Mumbai president Sandeep Deshpande said, “If this is Maharashtra, then why do people in Maharashtra not have the right to protest at the places of their choice? He further said that laborers all over the state will be going to Mira Road till such time as the protest is allowed.”
Avinash Jadhav, a senior leader of MNS, had been detained this morning at his house. Two of the pending cases against him were used by the police as an excuse. The catastrophic issue of language has become a political bone of contention between the ruling government and the opposition.
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