Mumbai
oi-Ashish Rana
MNS leader Amit Thackeray, son of Raj Thackeray has created a fresh warning for auto-drivers who speak Hindi in Maharashtra, he says that if they found auto-drivers speaking ‘Hindi’ MNS would ‘beat’ them. His statement came after few hours of CM Devendra Fadnavis announced one-year extension for auto and taxi drivers to acquire functional Marathi, while pausing enforcement of the language.
MNS leader Amit Thackeray threatened Hindi-speaking auto drivers in Maharashtra with physical action if they don’t speak Marathi, criticizing CM Devendra Fadnavis’s one-year extension of the language learning deadline, which the government granted citing driver requests.
Amit Thackeray Warns Hindi-Speaking Auto Drivers
While speaking in Nagpur on 27 August, MNS leader Amit Thackeray stated that Hindi as a ‘language of Uttar Pradesh’ and objected that government has given extra time for drivers to learn Marathi.
“If it comes to our notice that someone (an auto-rickshaw driver) is speaking in Hindi or behaving rudely, then we will beat them. Don’t tell people that they have to speak UP’s language or that they have to speak Hindi. We will speak in Marathi… We have understood how much affection you (Devendra Fadnavis) have for the Marathi language and for our state. You go to Gujarat, you go to Punjab, you go to the South. Everywhere there is an attachment to one’s own language. Now, because the UP elections are coming, you are giving a one-year extension. What kind of desperation has come upon you that we should set aside our own language, that we should set aside our own state?” he said.
Why Did Maharashtra Extend the Marathi Deadline?
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said that the government has got an request from auto-rickshaw and taxi driver’s organisations for extra time. A group led by Haji Arfat Shaikh asked to CM Fadnavis for more time as the drivers came from different age groups and education backgrounds, that make difficult for some to learn Marathi in a short deadline period.
Now the government has decided to provide study material and organise Marathi classes. CM Fadnavis also confirmed that no action will be taken during that one-year period against the drivers who have not learnt the language yet.
What Was the Original Marathi Rule?
Maharashtra government had announced in April that all the non-Marathi-speaking commercial drivers will have to learn basic Marathi language, with setting 15 August as their deadline. Later after checking drive, many drivers who failed to get Marathi proficiency tests were issued notices.
Now this issue has become sensitive in Maharashtra as the local parties including MNS has argued that the extension of Marathi language learning deadline has weaken its requirement. While the government has said that drivers need a reasonable time to learn the language.
