A bank employee in Lonavala was beaten by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers for not using Marathi in daily business transactions. The incident happened at a Maharashtra Bank branch as part of MNS’s campaign to make Marathi the main language in government and private offices.

MNS, led by Raj Thackeray, is pushing for strict use of Marathi in Maharashtra. Party workers visited the bank branch and told the manager that all employees must speak and use Marathi from the next day. During the discussion, a Marathi-speaking employee tried to explain that using Hindi did not affect customer service. This angered the MNS workers, who then attacked him and threw him out of the manager’s office.

A video of the incident has now gone viral on social media.

The party justifies its actions by stating that Maharashtra Bank is a nationalised bank, but “99% of its customers are Maharashtrian, including elderly people and rural customers who may not understand Hindi properly.” They also referred to a Maharashtra government rule that requires Marathi to be used in public offices and government institutions, claiming that it is not being followed properly.

This incident happened soon after Raj Thackeray’s Gudhi Padwa rally on March 30, where he warned that Marathi should be made compulsory for official work. After the rally, MNS workers started visiting banks across the state, pressuring them to use Marathi in their daily work. In Mumbai, they reportedly handed bank managers roses and stones as a symbolic warning.

The MNS is pushing its Marathi identity campaign aggressively, especially with the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. The party wants to make sure that Marathi remains the main language in Maharashtra’s offices and institutions.

 

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