Outrage Over Nishikant Dubey’s Comment On Marathi People

Mumbai: Jharkhand BJP leader Nishikant Dubey’s comments amid the language conflict in Maharashtra on Monday have triggered a huge row in Maharashtra. Faced with strong criticism from the opposition, the ruling Mahayuti government made a statement in the ongoing monsoon session of the State Legislature denouncing Dubey’s remarks.

Without naming anyone, Dubey hit out at Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and his cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray for recent violent attacks on Hindi-speaking people in Maharashtra and dared them to visit UP, Bihar or Tamil Nadu and try and do the same there.

“Come to UP, Bihar or Tamil Nadu. Tumhe Patak-Patak ke maarenge (you will be thrashed),” Dubey said. “I dare them to go to Mahim dargah and try and assault any Urdu-speaking person, like they did to a Hindi-speaking vendor recently.”

The BJP Godda MP accused Raj Thackeray and his cousin Uddhav of indulging in ‘cheap politics’ ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls. “We all respect Marathi and the people of Maharashtra, who fought for India's independence. The BMC election is due, and hence, Raj and Uddhav Thackeray are doing cheap politics,” he said.

Dubey further added that Maharashtra runs on the money generated from Hindi-speaking states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, saying they set up huge industries there and pay taxes to Maharashtra.

“You have no industries in your state. You do not generate much tax. States like Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha have mines. Gujarat too has a few industries. What do you have? You people are surviving on our money,” he said.

Dubey’s tirade has come after a few videos emerged and went viral on social media in recent days, showing MNS workers assaulting North Indian labourers and vendors when they expressed their inability to converse in Marathi.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) leader Yogesh Kadam, a BJP ally in Maharashtra, objected to Dubey’s statement, saying, “Such arrogance will not work. We will not tolerate such statements. He is a Parliamentarian. He has won four terms, but it does not befit him to make such statements."

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi also lashed out at Dubey asking, "Who made him the gatekeeper of Hindi?"

She also questioned if Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis agrees with his party MP’s language. “Does @Dev_Fadnavis ji agree with their party MP’s language with regards to people of Maharashtra and his disparaging comments about hard working people of the state? Does @Dev_Fadnavis ji agree to Ashish Shelar comparing Marathi Hindus to terrorists of Pahalgam?” she asked.

Ashish Shelar, Maharashtra minister for information technology, hit out at Dubey, in Vidhan Sabha, saying there was no need to raise questions about the achievements and contribution of Marathi people. “The entire country knows the contribution of Marathi people to the GDP. Marathi people produced the first cinema in the country. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj built the first navy in the country. If he does not know what the contribution of Marathi people to the GDP is, we will make arrangements to send it to him. Marathi people do not live on anyone's support,” he said.