Linguistic politics has flared up once again in Maharashtra--this time, courtesy the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Senior RSS leader Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi recently kicked up a political storm when he casually mentioned at a public gathering that it was not necessary for people coming to Mumbai to learn the state라이브 바카라 official language, Marathi. Joshi, who is a Maharashtrian (Marathi speaker), explained that different pockets of the city spoke different languages based on the dominant population there. “In Ghatkopar, the language is Gujarati. In Girgaon, one finds fewer Hindi speakers as there are more Maharashtrians,” he said.
Linguistically, the reality is not far off in Mumbai. Marathi, the state라이브 바카라 official language is spoken by 12 crore people across the country. But, in Mumbai, one can go about their business in the city without speaking a word of Marathi. Historically, Mumbai has boasted of its cosmopolitan character and embraced people from multiple languages, cultures and ethnicities in its cradle. As the country라이브 바카라 financial capital, Mumbai라이브 바카라 economic reins are controlled by the non-Marathi speaking trading and business community, which employs the Marathi natives. Unknowingly, this dynamic is reflected in the ethnically diverse culture. Even though Mumbai is an integral part of Maharashtra, it is not the beating heart of Marathi culture.
Away from its multiculturalism, Mumbai has also been the hotbed of linguistic chauvinism. Marathi language is a significant marker of the Maharashtrian identity and holds a strong political resonance. The Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have established political dominance by militantly asserting linguistic regionalism and voicing the angst of local Maharashtrians.
At a time the elections to local civic bodies in Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Nashik around the corner, the BJP was left red faced with the latest language row. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, also a dedicated Swayamsevak, swung into damage control mode by asserting that all residents of Maharashtra must learn Marathi.
Prakash Akolkar, journalist and author of Jai Maharashtraa, a history of Shiv Sena, believes Joshi라이브 바카라 statement that “Mumbai does not have one language” was a deliberate attempt to test the waters. “The RSS and BJP라이브 바카라 agenda of imposing ‘one nation one language’ is clearly defined. By citing Mumbai라이브 바카라 example, they want to gauge the political reactions before making Hindi as the country라이브 바카라 national language,” he said.
The Modi government at the Center is presently facing the heat from non-BJP ruled states over the imposition of the Hindi language. The Tamil Nadu government has opposed the inclusion of Hindi language as part of the National Education Policy라이브 바카라 three-language (English, Hindi and state language) formula in state schools.
In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray faction) and MNS라이브 바카라 parochial politics have made linguistic politics complex. Eager to expand its footprint as the dominant party in Maharashtra, BJP has taken upon the task of promoting Marathi.
In October, weeks before the crucial assembly elections, the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred the classical language status on Marathi, for its rich and ancient literary tradition. After coming to power in the state, the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government made it mandatory for government and semi-government offices to conduct all communication and display signages in Marathi. The notification issued by the state planning department warned of disciplinary action against officials who do not speak in Marathi.
Acclaimed author and Sahitya Academy winner Ranganath Pathare said the move to accord Marathi the status of classical language after ten years delay was nothing but political, meant to constitute Marathi votes for the BJP.
Pathare was appointed in 2013 by the Congress government to explore if Marathi fulfilled the criteria for the classical language status. “Marathi has a rich ancient tradition that dates back 2000 years. In the 400 years of the Maratha empire rule, the language was spoken from Karachi to Karnataka. We submitted a 500-page report in 2015 with all documentary and literature proofs illustrating the origin of the language, yet the central government declined to grant immediate status.”
Between 2004 and 2014, only six languages, Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia, have been given the status of classical languages. Along with Marathi, the BJP has also granted Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali, classical language status.
The BJP라이브 바카라 advancement of the Marathi language and culture is aimed at wresting the control of the Marathi agenda from its rival Shiv Sena party (Thackeray faction), whose identity is rooted in the political sphere as a pro-Marathi party. The Sangh and Sena at times are conflated to be the two sides of the same coin due to their origins in Maharashtra and commitment to Hindutva. But, the BJP and Sangh라이브 바카라 nationalistic ideology is at odds with Sena's regional nationalism.
The Sena's origin is intrinsically linked with the fight for a separate state of Maharashtra based on linguistic identity from the Bombay State, which included present-day Gujarat, parts of Vidarbha and Maharashtra. Prabodhankar Thackeray, father of Bal Thackeray, was one of the key figures and founding members of the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti (United Maharashtra Committee) created in 1956 which sought to preserve and promote Marathi culture, language, and the people. The formation of Maharashtra in 1960, with the city of Bombay as its capital, was considered a result of the martyrdom of 105 people, who agitated driven by Marathi pride.
Although Bombay became part of Maharashtra, it was populated by non-Marathi speaking migrants who were flocking to the city in search of economic opportunities. Maharashtrians, despite being the natives, were reduced to being the largest linguistic minority. It was at this juncture that Bal Thackeray, son of Prabodhankar, founded Shiv Sena in 1966, to champion Marathi pride and regionalism.
Tracing the origins of nativism in the Indian political sphere, American political scientist Mary F Katzenstein noted in 1973 that in Bombay, the “nativist sentiment found explicit political expression in the Shiv Sena” which was founded to safeguard the interests of the sons of the soil.
The Sena led violent agitation for the priority of local Marathi natives in jobs and even attacked South Indian migrants in the city for depriving locals of employment opportunities. Over the years, the party developed its appeal in the state for its aggressive campaigns for mandatory implementation of the Marathi language in schools, display of signboards in Marathi on commercial establishments across the state and housing reservation for Marathi speakers.
The RSS on the other hand was absent from the independence movement as well as the Maharashtra freedom movement. The RSS, headquartered in Nagpur, was founded in 1925 by a Maharashtrian Brahmin Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, to build a strong Hindu nationalist movement. The Sangh aimed to unite the Hindu community and form a Hindu Rashtra.
Last month, at the 98th Marathi literature festival in Delhi, Modi invoked Sangh라이브 바카라 Marathi connection. He praised the RSS for introducing him to the Marathi language and culture. However, in its 100 years of existence, the Sangh has never batted for the promotion of Marathi language. The RSS has always viewed Hindi as the unifying language and propagated for the acceptance of Hindi and Sanskrit as national languages.
The latest language row has given fresh ammo to Shiv Sena (UBT), which has been suffering after the split in the original party and loss of leaders to BJP. The party has revived its Marathi first agenda by demanding commercial establishments, restaurants and eateries to provide bill receipts and menu cards in the Marathi language.
Sena leader Krishna Pawle, who has initiated the campaign, said there was an urgent need to revive the Marathi language in Mumbai, as the state language and Maharashtrian identity is on the verge of getting marginalised. “Our martyrs and founding fathers never claimed that Mumbai was only for Marathi people. We have welcomed everyone. But it is shameful that non-Marathi speakers born in Mumbai, refuse to learn the state language and proudly say, we don’t know Marathi,” Pawle said.
He added that although the move to insist Marathi language on bills, receipts and hotel menus is small, it was incumbent on the trading association and hotel industry to follow the language norms. “Marathi natives are already marginalised. If the situation continues in this manner, in the next decade, there will be no Marathi-speakers left in Mumbai.”
