Raj Thackeray slams state govt over land deals, three language policy and special public security act

Indian Express

4 days ago

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Mahayuti government, accusing it of sidelining the Marathi-speaking population while promoting Hindi. Thackeray also criticised the government of misusing the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act to label local farmers and protesters against any new project as 'urban naxals,' and enabling ministers to benefit from insider land deals in regions that are witnessing large-scale infrastructure development.
Speaking at the 78th foundation day of the Shetkari Kamgar Paksha in Panvel, Thackeray alleged that political leadership in the state was 'systematically weakening Marathi identity' in favour of corporate and political interests from outside Maharashtra. 'The Chief Minister is focused on introducing Hindi in schools but has no concern for how migrants working in Maharashtra will learn Marathi,' Thackeray said. 'They don't think about the sons of the soil,' he said.
Stating that the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, passed earlier this year, allows authorities to detain individuals deemed a threat to public order or economic infrastructure, Thackeray called it a tool to suppress local farmers protesting against industrial projects and term them as urban naxals and arrest them. 'If you oppose a project, the government can arrest you by calling you an urban naxal. Go ahead, arrest us. But no industry will rise on the graves of Marathi people,' he said.
Thackeray alleged that senior ministers are involved in land speculation, acquiring land before major infrastructure announcements and then negotiating deals with industrialists.
'Only ministers know where roads and projects will come up. They buy the land first, make deals later, and then throw money at voters before elections,' he said. 'This is the only thriving industry in Maharashtra.'
He pointed at Raigad as being the epicentre of these trends and claimed that large tracts of land are being acquired from local farmers while employment opportunities are offered to migrant workers.
'Who is coming to Raigad? Who is settling there? No one knows. Our own people are selling the land. I appeal you don't sell land anymore. Insist that you become partners in the companies coming here,' he said adding that at Navi Mumbai airport, 100 percent local youths should be given jobs.
Thackeray also took aim at the Centre, stating that key national leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, both from Gujarat, have shifted major projects from Maharashtra to their home state.
'After Modi became PM, Maharashtra lost the diamond market to Gujarat. When Amit Shah says he is Gujarati, not Hindi-speaking, nobody complains. But when I speak for Marathi, I am called parochial,' he said.
Referring to the state's support for the Gujarati Sahitya Sammelan, Thackeray said the issue is not about love for Gujarati culture, but about an agenda to provoke a Marathi-Gujarati divide for political end.
Raj Thackeray also pointed out that twice people from Bihar were driven away from Gujarat and over 20,000 people from Bihar had to leave Gujarat after violent protest by Alpesh Thakor who later joined BJP.
'When they do it, no one says anything. But we do it for Marathi, then we are called anti national. The BJP took the Alpesh Thakor in their party, but no one says anything,' he said. As he shared the stage with Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, PWP's Jayant Patil, and NCP (SP)'s Shashikant Shinde, it raised speculation about future political alignments centred on Marathi regional identity. In a pointed message to youth, Thackeray said, 'You are being sold. Your land is slipping away. Your language is under threat. And someday, when you realise it, you'll find it's too late. Make money, build families—but not by selling Maharashtra.'
Responding to the criticism, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Marathi is already mandatory in schools, and learning another Indian language like Hindi should not be seen as cultural erosion.
'We must not oppose Indian languages while celebrating English. Marathi is and will remain compulsory,' he said.
On the special public security act and criticism on it by Raj, Fadnavis clarified, 'The law does not target protestors. It applies only to those who behave like urban naxals—who pose a threat to public safety. Opposing the government is not a crime.'