'Ghatkopar's language Gujarati,' says RSS leader; 'everyone in Maharashtra should speak Marathi,' Fadnavis clarifies

Mumbai: Amid the escalating language war and widening North-South divide over it, RSS leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi triggered a controversy in Maharashtra by saying that “people coming to Mumbai many not necessarily have to learn Marathi," drawing ire of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.

As the Maha Yuti-NDA dispensation came under heavy fire, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had to personally put up a defence.

The opposition MVA-I.N.D.I.A. bloc dared Fadnavis and Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde, the chief leader of Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar, the NCP president, to pass a resolution in the Maharashtra legislature over the matter and condemn the statement.

Suresh alias Bhaiyyaji Joshi was the Sarkaryawah or General Secretary, the second in command of RSS from 2009 to 2021.

At a function on Thursday evening, Bhaiyyaji Joshi said: "Mumbai does not have a single language, it has many languages. Different areas have different languages. For example, the language of Ghatkopar is Gujarati. Similarly, you will find fewer people speaking Hindi in Girgaon. There, you will find people speaking Marathi… people coming to Mumbai may not necessarily have to learn Marathi.”

“I have not heard what Bhaiyyaji said, but the language of Mumbai and Maharashtra is Marathi. Everyone should learn Marathi and should speak the language…if you love and respect your own language, you do the same to other languages. I am sure Bhaiyyaji will agree with me,” Fadnavis said on Friday.

As Bhaiyyaji Joshi’s statement fired up debate, the opposition parties Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar-headed NCP (SP) and Congress slammed him.

Thackeray dared Bhaiyyaji Joshi to make such remarks in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and West Bengal and come back. “Just because the Marathi manoos is welcoming, does not mean anyone can come and hit them…he should be booked for treason,” Thackeray said, adding that when he was the chief minister heading the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the law to make Marathi compulsory in the state was made in the state.

Thackeray also slammed the ‘batenge toh katenge’ catchphrase of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2024 Vidhan Sabha polls in Maharashtra.

"The sadist mentality has come to the fore. This is a ploy to break Mumbai,” he said.

"Marathi is our state language, and such a statement amounts to treason,” added Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut.

“Bhaiyaji Joshi is trying to divide Mumbai on the issue of language…kem cho, kem cho seems like this is the only thing that will be heard in Mumbai now,” said NCP (SP) group leader Dr Jitendra Awhad.

“Mumbai, along with Maharashtra, has Marathi as its primary language. However, RSS leaders have historically shown bias against Mumbai’s Marathi-speaking populace,” said Maharashtra Congress general secretary Atul Londhe.

After the political storm, later in the day, Bhaiyyaji Joshi issued a clarification saying that his statement has been misinterpreted.

“My mother tongue is Marathi. But I also respect the existence of all languages... I request everyone to see it from the same perspective…The language of Maharashtra is Marathi. Mumbai is in Maharashtra and naturally, the language of Mumbai is Marathi. Different languages are spoken in India. People speak different languages while living in Mumbai as well. So, it is a natural expectation that they should also come here and learn Marathi, understand Marathi and read Marathi, in fact, this is a great example of co-existence that people speaking so many different languages in India live together.”