MNS workers vandalise Sushil Kedia’s Mumbai office after his ‘I won’t learn Marathi’ remark
A group of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists vandalised an office of prominent investor Sushil Kedia on Saturday, a day after he said he would not learn Marathi as a protest against the "gross misconduct" of party chief Raj Thackeray.
Police said the party workers reached Kedia’s office at Century Bazar in the morning and threw stones.
“I don't know Marathi properly even after living for 30 years in Mumbai, and with your gross misconduct I have made it a resolve that until such people as you are allowed to pretend to be taking care of Marathi Manus, I take pratigya I won't learn Marathi. Kya karna hai bol?,” Kedia said in a social media post on Friday.
The investor’s remark was in response to a recent incident in Mira Road where a sweet mart owner was allegedly assaulted by a group of MNS workers for not speaking in Marathi. The incident triggered protests in the area with hundreds of shopkeepers and traders taking to the streets on Thursday.
Kedia’s remarks targeting Raj Thackeray, however, drew a sharp reaction from the MNS with party leader Sandeep Deshpande warning him against “insulting” Marathi.
“Do business if you're a businessman; don't try to act like our father. If you insult Marathi in Maharashtra, you'll get a slap on the ear, otherwise, stay in your lane, Mehta or whoever. That's all for now,” Deshpande said.
Later in the day, Kedia sought police protection, saying he was getting threats for challenging Raj Thackeray.
“Shri Raj Thackeray, threatening me by 100s of your workers is not going to make me a fluent Marathi speaker. If I am not confident of the quality of Marathi I can speak, with so much threatening around even more fear happens that if I miss speaking any word(s) improperly more violence will happen. Get the point. Love, not threat makes people get assimilated together,” he said in a post in which he also tagged the Mumbai Police and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Interestingly, the latest incident came at a time when cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray are set to address a joint rally in Mumbai—for the first time after nearly 20 years—to mark their victory against the Maharashtra government's move to make Hindi compulsory in schools.
It is being keenly looked at whether the reunion of Thackerays will set a new course in Maratha politics.
India