Fadnavis says ‘Urban Naxals’ will be arrested after Raj Thackeray slams Public Safety Act

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray challenged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to arrest anybody under the recently enacted Public Safety Act, while speaking at the 78th anniversary event of the Shetkari Kamgar Party here on Saturday.

“The Maharashtra government has enacted a new law called the Public Safety Act. If you oppose any project, the government will use this law against you and arrest you after calling you an ‘Urban Naxalite’. I challenge them. Let them try to arrest anybody under this law. In Maharashtra, industries will not be built on the graves of Marathi people. If you want to bring industries, you will have to bring them after respecting the honour and dignity of the Marathi people. Without that, you cannot do it,” Raj Thackeray said.

Advertisement

Later during the day, after he was asked about his reaction to the challenge issued by Raj Thackeray, Fadnavis said, “If you behave like an Urban Naxal, you will be arrested. If you do not behave like an Urban Naxal, there is no reason to arrest you. The law is for those who violate the law. It is not a law against protesters. There is full freedom to speak against the government. There is no law against that. Such comments are comments made without reading the law.”

Raj Thackeray also raised the issue of the Marathi language being sidelined by imposing Hindi. “The Chief Minister of Maharashtra is thinking about how to make kids in Maharashtra learn Hindi. But he does not think about how to make those who come to Maharashtra for work and business learn Marathi. There is no thought about the Marathi people who are the sons of Maharashtra,” Raj Thackeray said.

Reacting to Raj Thackeray’s statement, Fadnavis said, “I have a very strong opinion. Marathi should be learned in Maharashtra. It should be mandatory, and we have made it mandatory. But what is the harm if Marathi children in Maharashtra get to learn another Indian language along with Marathi? I am against the mentality that we should oppose Indian languages to promote English”.