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Raj Thackeray threatened to drown Nishikant Dubey in Mumbai’s sea, stressing Marathi’s importance in Maharashtra.
The MNS leader further said that he will not make any compromises over Marathi and the people of Maharashtra. (Photos: ANI)
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday hit back at Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey over his “Patak Patak ke Maarenge (We will beat you up mercilessly)” remark, and said he will drown the BJP leader in sea of Mumbai.
“A BJP MP said, ‘Marathi logon ko hum yahan pe patak patak ke maarenge’…You come to Mumbai. Mumbai ke samundar mein dubo dubo ke maarenge,” Thackeray said.
The MNS leader further said that he will not make any compromises over Marathi and the people of Maharashtra. “I will not Those who live in Maharashtra, to them I would like to say ‘learn Marathi as soon as possible, wherever you go, speak Marathi’. In Karnataka, they fight for their language. Even a rickshaw puller knows that the Government is standing behind him over language. Similarly, you be like a pillar and speak in Marathi only. This is what I have come to request all of you,” he added.
“You people are surviving on our money. What kind of industries do you have?… If you are courageous enough and beat those who speak Hindi, then you should beat all those who speak Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu. If you are such a big ‘boss’, come out of Maharashtra, come to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu – ‘tumko patak patak ke maarenge’… We all respect Marathi and the people of Maharashtra, who fought for India’s independence,” Dubey said.
Amid the Marathi row, Dubey had said that Raj Thackeray will be beaten up if he visits Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
“You people are surviving on our money. What kind of industries do you have?… If you are courageous enough and beat those who speak Hindi, then you should beat all those who speak Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu. If you are such a big ‘boss’, come out of Maharashtra, come to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu – ‘tumko patak patak ke maarenge’… We all respect Marathi and the people of Maharashtra, who fought for India’s independence,” Dubey said.
Marathi Row
The Hindi-Marathi row was ignited in the state, especially in the Mumbai metropolitan region, after opposition parties like the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena took on the government over two GRs on the three-language policy in schools and teaching of Hindi from Class I.
It escalated after MNS activists beat up some people, including a sweet shop owner in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, for not speaking Marathi.
Later on July 5, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS head Raj Thackeray shared a stage in Mumbai for the cause of the Marathi language, and vowed to oppose the “imposition” of Hindi in Maharashtra after the state government rolled back the GRs on the introduction of Hindi as a third language in primary schools.
On July 8, the MNS and other groups led a protest march in Mira Bhayandar area to defend Marathi ‘asmita’ (pride) and counter the traders’ agitation.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI)
Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter –twitter.com/saurabhkverma19
Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter –twitter.com/saurabhkverma19
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