Assault on Marathi family in Kalyan sparks outrage in state legislature, accused arrested

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the officer, employed with the state-run Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), would be suspended

Nagpur: The assault on a Marathi family in Kalyan by a north Indian Maharashtra government employee, and his alleged derogatory comments against Marathi-speaking people, led to an uproar in both houses of the state legislature on Friday. After the Opposition raised the incident in both houses, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the officer, employed with the state-run Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), would be suspended.

Kalyan,india-December 20 2024 : Pic: In the YogiDham area of Kalyan, a shocking incident occurred where Akhilesh Shukla, an official working with MTDC, allegedly led a group of 10 to 15 goons in a deadly assault on a Marathi family. In protest against this attack, banners have been put up across the Yogi Dham area, and local Marathi residents held a march with hundreds of participants under the Azmera Heights building. The protesters have warned that if the assailant is not arrested, the traders' associations in the Yogi Dham area will observe a shutdown. Meanwhile, the Kalyan Khadakpada police have registered cross-complaints related to the incident. Senior Police Inspector Ambarnath Waghmode of Khadakpada Police Station has stated that appropriate action has been taken. Pic.On Friday .in India on 20 2024 - Story By Atik Sir (Photo by Pramod Tambe)

According to the police, Akhilesh Shukla and 8-10 accomplices allegedly attacked his neighbours, Abhijit and Dhiraj Deshmukh, on December 18 after they tried to intervene in his dispute with another neighbour, Varsha Kalavikatte, over burning incense sticks in the lobby of their apartment floor. According to the FIR, the Deshmukhs were attacked with a sharp weapon, an iron rod, pipes and wooden sticks.

The matter reached the state legislature on Friday after pictures of the injured Deshmukh brothers went viral, leading to protests in Kalyan on December 19. The legislative council saw a 10-minute adjournment after both the treasury and opposition benches engaged in a heated exchange over the relations between Marathi and non-Marathi people in Mumbai. Opposition members claimed that such incidents stem from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) “arrogance of power”.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab raised the matter in the legislative council, where he claimed Shukla told the Deshmukhs, “Ten Marathi people sweep the floor in my office.” He added that Shukla also warned the Deshmukhs not to assert their Marathi identity in front of him, before orchestrating the assault with hired goons.

Parab also cited media reports from 2023 of a Maharashtrian woman being denied a rental property in Mumbai due to her ethnicity, saying, “Some claim that with the BJP in power, Marwari will become the official language [in Mumbai]. This is nothing but the arrogance of power.”

Responding to the Opposition’s remarks, Fadnavis said, “Mumbai and Maharashtra belong to the Marathi people. Some individuals, like Shukla, exhibit arrogance and make offensive statements. We will not rest until such arrogance is addressed. An FIR has been lodged against him. The process of suspension will be initiated against him.”

In the legislative assembly, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Sunil Prabhu claimed that Marathi people are not safe in Maharashtra. “Who is this government officer who dares to use derogatory language against Marathi manoos (person)? How can they go to such an extent of high-handedness? The officer uses an amber beacon on his vehicles and threatens people in the area, saying he can make the chief minister’s office take action. This will not be tolerated,” he said.

In response, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar assured the legislative assembly that strict action would be taken against Shukla. “Injustice against the Marathi manoos in Maharashtra will not be tolerated. The officer will not be spared, no matter how big he is. I can assure the people of Maharashtra that every Marathi manoos will be respected by the state administration,” he said.

MTDC managing director Manoj Suryavanshi confirmed that Shukla had been suspended. Asked about the allegation that Shukla illegally uses an amber beacon on his vehicle, Suryavanshi said, “This can be an offence under the Motor Vehicles Act. We suspended him on the basis of the FIR registered.”

Shukla was arrested by the police on Friday, but not before he posted a video on social media in which he claimed that the Deshmukhs assaulted his wife by dragging her by her hair. “A dispute over shifting our shoe rack a year ago has resulted in the skirmish between us. Deshmukh and Kavilkatte have been harassing us over the last year. I have lived in Maharashtra for the last five decades and never considered myself an outsider. In fact, the Deshmukhs called us parprantiya (outsiders) and threatened to teach us a lesson,” he stated in the video.