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MNS workers slap security guard in Mumbai's Powai for ‘not speaking Marathi’ | Video
The assault follows a series of incidents reported over the past month where MNS workers picked up arguments with citizens for allegedly not speaking Marathi
A private security guard working at Powai area of Maharashtra's Mumbai was allegedly beaten up by party workers from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for not being able to speak in the Marathi language.
The video of the assault has been shared on the social media platform Facebook. The guard can be seen getting slapped by MNS workers as onlookers try to defuse tension. Later, the man can be seen apologising with folded hands.
The exact reason which triggered the incident remains unclear. According to NDTV Marathi, the guard explained that he could not speak the local language as he was from North India.
Watch the video here
The assault follows a series of incidents reported over the past month where MNS workers picked up arguments with citizens for allegedly not being able to speak in Marathi.
In March, MNS workers assaulted a D-Mart store employee in Versova after an argument over Marathi. The argument escalated into an assault after the employee allegedly said, “I will not speak in Marathi. I will speak only in Hindi. Do what you want to do.”
MNS on non-Marathi speakers
The Raj Thackeray-led party said on Saturday that incidents of violence against non-Marathi speakers in the state by its workers were not intentional but insisted that those living and working in Maharashtra should give respect to the local language.
“Marathi is the language of Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra. The Union government recently gave it classical language status. But some people deliberately disrespect and humiliate the language. While teaching such elements a lesson, violence does take place. But it is not intentional. Give Marathi due respect, and we have no issues whether the people concerned are from Bihar or Karnataka,” MNS spokesperson Vageesh Saraswat told PTI.
He was responding to Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP Rajesh Verma, who accused the MNS of targeting Hindi speakers to show its political might. “Hindi speakers work hard. They deserve respect and not insults and violence,” Verma had said.
