Activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s youth wing tore down the name plaques of some of Podar group of schools at Bandra, Khar and Santa Cruz and replaced them with Marathi plaques that they ha
Activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s youth wing tore down the name plaques of some of Podar group of schools at Bandra, Khar and Santa Cruz and replaced them with Marathi plaques that they had carried along with them on Friday. According to the activists, they resorted to such means as the school had failed to put up name plaques in Marathi, which is deemed mandatory by the state government.
Speaking about vandalising the school property, Akhil Chitre, the MNS youth wing leader who led the activists, said that even though writing name plaques is mandatory, many educational institutions have been flouting the norm. “We had gone to meet the school authorities and give them a representation demanding that they place name plates in Marathi along side the existing English plaques. While we were in the office of Colonel Balwinder Singh, the general manager of Podar Education Trust, some activists tore down the English banners and replaced them with Marathi ones that we had planned to give the school. We visited three schools and placed the name boards of the school we had made in Marathi over the English ones,” said Mr Chitre.
When asked whether the aggression by the MNS activists was due to the fiery speech by party chief Raj Thackeray on the party’s 10th Foundation day, Mr Chitre said that the action was a yearly affair and he had visited some schools in Bandra Kurla Complex and had also gifted them name boards like they did at Podar School. “It is an ongoing process and we do this every year around Marathi Bhasha Diwas. Our visit to Podar school is part of that effort,” said Mr Chitre.
Col Singh or Ms Avnita Bir, principal of RN Podar school, were unavailable for comment.
