Weaponising linguistic pride

Anti-migrant politics based on language hurts Mumbai —and the nation

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The assault by activists of a political party on a Thane shopkeeper for allegedly not speaking in Marathi and the ambiguous response of many politicians to the deplorable act are disconcerting.

It threatens to revive a violent nativist politics that kept Mumbai, then Bombay—and Maharashtra-on tenterhooks for decades in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Some activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) were detained on Friday for the assault, but what was disturbing is the absence of a firm condemnation from the political class: State Home Minister Yogesh Kadam’s response to the incident was that “action will be taken” against anyone who “disrespects Marathi”. There was no mention of the men who had taken the law into their hands.