BJP govt did some things purposely as a result such things are happening: Raj Babbar on language row in Maharashtra

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 5 (ANI): Reacting to the viral video in which a group of men allegedly associated with a regional party beat up a shop owner for not speaking in Marathi, Congress leader Raj Babbar alleged that the BJP government was responsible for such acts and he hoped that a respectable outcome would be achieved.
Raj Babbar said, "It's not about Hindu-Muslim. The whole issue is about prioritising Marathi over Hindi in Maharashtra. In every state, people are demanding that their regional language be given preference, and that is what the people of Maharashtra have also been doing. This situation could have been solved. In the past, such questions were not raised in Maharashtra on the language issue. The BJP government did some things on purpose, because of which such things are happening. We hope that a respectable solution comes out of the whole issue instead of taking a hardline stand. Maharashtra wants to take pride in its language."
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray launched a veiled attack on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and said that the Chief Minister did what could not be possible for Balasaheb Thackeray, as he brought the two estranged brothers of the Thackeray family together.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray shared a hug at the Worli Dome in Mumbai as they held a joint rally after the Maharashtra government scrapped two Government Resolutions (GRs) to introduce Hindi as the third language.
Thackeray brothers garlanded the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the joint rally of their parties, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) at Worli Dome in Mumbai.
Addressing the gathering, Raj Thackeray said, "I had said in one of my interviews that my Maharashtra is bigger than any politics and fight. Today, after 20 years, Uddhav and I have come together. What Balasaheb could not do, Devendra Fadnavis did it... The work of bringing both of us together."
"Minister Dada Bhuse came to me and requested me to listen to his point. I asked him what the third language would be for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan. All the Hindi-speaking states are behind us, and we are ahead of all Hindi-speaking states; still, we are being forced to learn Hindi. Why?. I don't have anything against Hindi; no language is bad. It takes a lot of effort to build a language. We Marathi people ruled over a lot of states during the Maratha Empire, but we never enforced Marathi on those parts. They started with the experiment of imposing Hindi over us and were trying to test if we would not have opposed it, they would have gone up to making Mumbai separate from Maharashtra," he added.
He further asked if anyone would raise a question about his pride in Marathi.
He further said, "They say that our children have learnt in English medium schools. So what? Dada Bhuse studied in Marathi schools and became a minister. Devendra Fadnavis studied in an English-medium school and became the Maharashtra CM. So what? I would tell you that I studied in a Marathi school, but my father, Shrikant Thackeray, and uncle, Balasaheb Thackeray, studied in an English medium school. Can anyone raise a question about their love for Marathi? Tomorrow, I will learn Hebrew also. Will anyone raise a question about my pride in Marathi?"
Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday warned of strict legal action against those engaging in "hooliganism" in the name of Marathi. He said that the Mahayuti government will not tolerate violence against commoners.
"It is not wrong to be proud of the Marathi language in Maharashtra. But if someone indulges in hooliganism due to language, we will not tolerate it. If someone beats up people based on language, this will not be tolerated. The police have filed an FIR and taken action on the incident, and if anyone creates such a language dispute in future, legal action will be taken," Fadnavis told reporters here.
He also pointed out that the people engaging in "hooliganism" amid the ongoing controversy over language in Maharashtra were those who embrace English but create dispute over Hindi.
"We are proud of our Marathi, but injustice cannot be done to any language of India in this manner; we will have to keep this in mind. And sometimes, I am surprised that these people embrace English and create disputes over Hindi. What kind of thinking is this, and what kind of action is this? Therefore, strict action will be taken against those who take the law into their own hands," Fadnavis said. (ANI)