Amid the Hindi-Marathi conflict, there is a state of tension in Maharashtra. The debate of ‘imposing’ the Marathi language among the Mumbaikars and other parts of the state has caused quite a stir.
Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) united, and their agenda is to prevent the ‘threat’ to their cultural and linguistic dominance in Maharashtra. The party workers of MNS are going aggressive, forcing people to communicate in Marathi. There are viral videos where the volunteers of the political party are going physical, attacking citizens, vandalising shops of the individuals who don’t agree with their ideology, or reject it.
The ongoing scenario of unrest gives a deja vu of 2008, when migrants were forced to leave Mumbai, as the political parties were ‘enforcing’ the linguistic identity, and regional pride, above everything. In 2008, there was a conflict of Hindi-Marathi, and at that time, actress and politician Jaya Bachchan made a remark that caused an uproar within the MNS and Shiv Sena. Jaya boasted about speaking Hindi at an event, and it was considered ‘anti-Marathi’.
What was the ‘anti-Marathi’ remark of Jaya Bachchan
During the movie promotions of Abhishek Bachchan’s Drona, Jaya Bachchan chose to interact with the media in Hindi. Jaya attended the event with Priyanka Chopra and others. The biggest highlight from the event was Jaya highlighting the fact that she’s from Uttar Pradesh and would prefer speaking in Hindi. The Guddi actress said, “Hum UP (Uttar Pradesh) ke log hai, isliye Hindi mein baat karenge. Maharashtra ke log maaf kariye.” This remark sparked a controversy. MNS and Shiv Sena slammed her publicly and also demanded a public apology.
Amitabh Bachchan apologised, but Jaya Bachchan…
Amitabh Bachchan apologised for Jaya Bachchan’s remark in his blog and even on a public platform. But the politicians were miffed, and they wanted Jaya’s apology.
Watch Amitabh Bachchan’s apologising for Jaya Bachchan’s remark
A month after the controversy, around September, Jaya Bachchan apologised for her remark but also clarified that her statement was not to defame Marathi. She said that her statement was misunderstood and it was her comment at those Bollywood actors who despite working in Hindi films prefer to talk in English during interviews.