In yet another incident of assault over the Marathi language, an attendant at the Nanded state transport bus stand in Maharashtra's Nanded was allegedly attacked by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers after he reportedly refused to speak Marathi.
The incident unfolded after a man confronted the Hindi-speaking migrant, who worked at a public toilet at the bus stand, and questioned why he was charging women ₹5 to use the facilities. The videos of the incident are going viral on social media.
A video showed the man asking the attendant to speak in Marathi. The man can be heard saying, “I will not speak Marathi, do what you want to do.”
A woman is also heard arguing with the attendant, following which the man behind the camera said he will show what he can do. The video was shared among MNS workers, including MNS Nanded city chief Shubham Patil, who allegedly confronted the attendant, according to The Indian Express.
{{/usCountry}}A woman is also heard arguing with the attendant, following which the man behind the camera said he will show what he can do. The video was shared among MNS workers, including MNS Nanded city chief Shubham Patil, who allegedly confronted the attendant, according to The Indian Express.
{{/usCountry}}In another video, a group of people wearing MNS scarves are seen slapping and punching the attendant. They can also be heard accusing him of misbehaving with women.
The MNS workers then demanded an apology from the attendant for not speaking in Marathi. They forced the attendant to apologise in Marathi, saying, “I apologise to Marathi people and to Raj Thackeray. I will not repeat this mistake again.”
Series of incident involving MNS workers
In a separate incident, the MNS workers on Thursday forcibly removed Gujarati signboards of several hotels along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway in Thane and Palghar districts, demanding Marathi signage.
MNS supporters smashed the Gujarati board of a hotel near Haloli village, local sources said. Several hotels covered their Gujarati boards with black cloth, news agency PTI reported.
The latest flare-ups over the language row came amid a series of incidents in Maharashtra after a row over Hindi being made mandatory at primary schools in the state.
Recently, MNS workers allegedly assaulted a local shopkeeper in Mumbai’s Vikroli over allegedly posting a WhatsApp status "insulting the Marathi community" and forced him to apologise.
In a similar incident, MNS members were captured on camera allegedly assaulting a food stall owner in Thane for not speaking in Marathi.