That’s what I wanted to shout in my howls of pain and grief at the totally unconstitutional and totally outrageous behavior of MNS goons in Maharashtra assembly when they slapped a member of the august house, Abu Azmi, for taking his oath in Hindi and brought the proceedings to a shameful halt.
How can such an incident be tolerated in our country? Does it not constitute some kind of federal crime and invite stringent punishment to the perpetrators? Can our Central government and leadership continue to put up with this naked violation of our constitutional rights? Can our courts not take cognizance of such heinous acts and punish the guilty? I don’t know what the recourse is but tolerating such nonsense is not an option.
Hindi is a language recognized in our Constitution as is Marathi and several others. This entitles an Indian to take his oath in the language he or she chooses. Why does everyone have to take oath in Marathi in Maharashtra assembly? Had it been a mandatory constitutional requirement one can raise objection against such violation but it is not, so what’s the hue and cry? How long are we going to remain Punjabis, Bengalis, Biharis, Tamils, Marathis and so on? When are we going to become Indians first and last? Why our politicians are feeding this culture of hatred and indifference toward our own compatriots? The country was partitioned in the name of religion and we have been mute witnesses and victims of innumerable communal riots since then, which are more often than not, are planned, provoked, and executed by our shameless politicians to cultivate vote banks or to axe their grinds. Language became a flash point in the 60’s especially in our southern states when our national leaders from Delhi tried to impose Hindi down their throat in questionable manner. Caste and regionalism keep raising their ugly heads from time to time when our scheming politicians hatch conspiracies to play with the emotions of vulnerable and deprived masses in the name of protecting their interests and welfare. All of us will have to hang our heads in shame at the painful realization of where we stand today as a nation and it is largely because we have either been conned or exploited by our so-called ‘leaders’ in their nefarious games and by their serpentine greed for power and pelf.
MNS is a product of evil politics of regionalism made fashionable by Bal Thakre of Shiv Sena, who spewed venom against migration of people from southern provinces to Mumbai. Raj Tkakre has taken a leaf from his notorious uncle and has earned huge notoriety for his vitriolic remarks and political diatribe against migrants from northern and eastern states to Mumbai. The uncle-nephew duo claim to be the self-proclaimed custodians of Mumbai and everything Marathi and have been indulging in all kinds of unconstitutional and criminal acts in the name of fighting for the bhumiputr ranging from common threats to public beating of powerless migrants who have every right to live and work anywhere in India including Mumbai and Maharashtra.
It should not really matter who belongs to which state in our country. It should count merely as a geographical reference as a place where one was born or grew at. Just as people born and brought up in Maharashtra can live and work in any city or town anywhere in India, people from other states and regions can choose to study, work, or live in Mumbai or Maharashtra or what have you. Who are these MNS leaders, their cronies, and their lumpen followers to question and deny our constitutional rights of residence and language? It is high time these crooks and thugs are booked under the provisions of law and are legally barred from indulging in such practices ever again.
Jai Hind!
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