MUMBAI: An hour after workers of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) vandalised his office, BJP supporter and businessman Sushil Kedia on Saturday extended an apology for showing resistance to learning the Marathi language. He said his video message was misunderstood.
In the viral video, several MNS workers were seen gathering outside Kedia’s office in Worli, pelting bricks and stones, and breaking the glass gate and other entry points. A security guard was present but was unable to prevent the vandalism.
The MNS attack came a day after Kedia publicly refused to learn Marathi and challenged the authority of the MNS and the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Following the attack, Kedia issued another video message, apologising for his earlier statement, saying he had made the post in a “wrong state of mind and under stress.”
“It is being manipulated by people who want to stir controversy. Having come under the pressure of violence targeted at those who do not know Marathi, I ended up overreacting. I realise now that I must take back my overreactions. The truth is, even after living in Mumbai for 30 years, we may never achieve the proficiency and fluency of native Marathi speakers,” he said.
“When there is an atmosphere of fear that resurfaces from time to time, it naturally creates hesitation. What if I end up speaking incorrectly, and some people choose to blow it out of proportion, deliberately interpreting it as an insult to Marathi?” he added.
On July 3, Kedia had tagged Raj Thackeray on X, saying he did not know Marathi properly even after living in Mumbai for 30 years. “With your gross misconduct, I have made a resolve that until people like you are allowed to pretend to protect the Marathi Manus (Marathi people), I take a vow (pratigya) that I won’t learn Marathi. Kya karna hai bol? (What will you do?)” he had posted.
Shortly after the vandalism, Kedia again tagged Thackeray, saying that threatening him with hundreds of MNS workers would not make him a fluent Marathi speaker. He asserted that “love, not threats, brings people together.”
“If I am not confident in my Marathi, and with such threats around, I fear that if I misspeak even a single word, it could lead to more violence,” he said.
Kedia also appealed to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for security. “I am getting calls from several police stations—Amboli, Cybercrime Bandra, SB1, among others—offering protection, but in that pretext, they are asking for my location. This seems like a dirty operation, baying for my blood. Kindly protect me,” he urged.
Meanwhile, MNS chief Raj Thackeray cautioned his party workers not to attack anyone unnecessarily. “But do give them the prasad if they refuse to learn Marathi despite humble requests, while staying and earning in Mumbai and Maharashtra. The party workers should not shoot videos while attacking anyone,” he said.
The incident comes amid the ongoing Marathi versus non-Marathi row in Maharashtra. On Friday, Deputy CM Fadnavis said the state government would not tolerate “hooliganism in the name of language.”
