Don’t force-fit Hindutva’: Raj Thackeray takes on RSS chief over language row comments

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday took on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat over his recent comments in Mumbai about language row, warning him against “force-fitting Hindutva”. He also advised the RSS against taking any “indirect political stance”. Mr. Bhagwat, in a recent lecture in Mumbai, had called the language row over Hindi and Marathi a “localised disease”.

“Linguistic and regional identities will continue to exist in this country, and they will certainly continue to exist in Maharashtra as well,” Mr. Thackeray said in a post on X. He also dared the RSS to reprimand the government for the “imposition” of Hindi in the country, and asked him to speak on the “spectacle of politics around cow slaughter”, India’s rising beef exports and the “objectionable dances” during Kanwar Yatra.

“If love for one’s language and one’s region seem like a disease to Mr. Bhagwat, then we would like to point out that this ‘disease’ is rampant across majority of the states in this country. From Karnataka to Tamil Nadu in the South, there are strong linguistic and provincial identities. The same sentiment exists in West Bengal, Punjab, and even Gujarat,” the MNS chief said. The history of the basis of the reorganisation of States was key to understanding the local population’s sentiments, he added.

‘Spineless rulers’

Mr. Thackeray accused the RSS of purposely provoking the Marathi people. “It is not because the Marathi people are tolerant, but because the rulers here are spineless, that Mr. Bhagwat dares to speak this way. A few months ago, just before elections, [RSS leader] Bhaiyyaji Joshi provoked the Marathi people by saying that Mumbai’s language is not only Marathi but also Gujarati, attempting to woo Gujarati speakers. All this was done to see how the BJP could benefit indirectly,” he said, asking why the RSS, which touted itself as a non-political organisation, should indulge in such acts.