Lawyers Demand Action Against Raj Thackeray
A group of Bombay High Court advocates has urged Maharashtra DGP to register a case against MNS chief Raj Thackeray for allegedly inciting violence against non-Marathi speaking residents, citing his recent inflammatory remarks on the language issue.
Mumbai: A group of three lawyers of Bombay High Court have sought legal action against MNS chief Raj Thackeray accusing him of making hateful and inflammatory statements against non-Maharashtrian people. The complainants have also demanded action against the MNS chief under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly delivering hate speeches and inciting violence.
In a letter written in Marathi to the Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP), advocates Pankajkumar Mishra, Nityanand Sharma and Aashish Rai, urged the police to register a case against Raj Thackeray, investigate his statements and ensure strict legal action to prevent any future remarks that could disturb public peace or spread communal hatred.
They claimed that Thackeray made inflammatory and inciting statements, which resulted in the party activists taking an aggressive stance against non-Marathi speaking people, assaulting local shopkeepers and threatening them. Stating that the unity, peace and integrity of the nation was being threatened due to such incidents, the letter has requested police to take action under the NSA.
Emphasising that it is the duty of every Indian to respect Marathi language, the letter alleged that in recent days, the MNS workers have been involved in acts of assault, threats and public humiliation of non-Marathi speaking individuals residing in the state.
The complaint comes amid an escalating Hindi-Marathi language row in the state, with several instances of non-Marathi-speaking people being assaulted by MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) workers in different districts.
Earlier this month, Raj Thackeray had instructed his cadre to beat people who “create drama” over not knowing Marathi. “Be it a Gujarati or anyone else here, they must know Marathi. But there is no need to beat people for that if they don’t speak Marathi. Yet, if someone does drama, you must hit them below their eardrums,” Thackeray said
“If you beat someone, don't make a video. Let the person beaten up tell that he has been beaten up; you don't need to tell everyone,” he added.
According to the lawyers, this statement is legally dangerous and violates several articles of the Constitution.