Mumbai : A language dispute over a seat in a Mumbai local train escalated into a full-blown Marathi versus Hindi argument, with one woman telling others to speak Marathi or get out. What started as a minor disagreement over seats quickly turned into a heated debate about language. A video of the incident, showing six to seven women arguing over a seat, has since gone viral on social media.
In the video, one woman can be heard telling the others, “If you want to live in Mumbai, speak Marathi, or else get out.” This led to more women joining in, turning the argument into a larger issue about language. The video below has been muted for viewers as it contains strong language and verbal abuse.
This altercation was a new page of the ongoing language debate in Maharashtra. Recently, MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) workers have faced criticism for targeting those who don’t speak Marathi. Earlier this week, in a separate incident, a shopkeeper in Vikhroli was attacked by MNS workers for a WhatsApp status deemed offensive to the Marathi community.
In another incident, MNS workers in Thane slapped a street food vendor for refusing to speak Marathi. A migrant auto-rickshaw driver in Palghar district was also assaulted by MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) supporters for not speaking the language.
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