‘Religion there, language here': Maharashtra minister Ashish Shelar compares Pahalgam attack to Marathi slapgate row; says BJP will protect everyone in state
, people in Maharashtra were being attacked on linguistic grounds.
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'In the Pahalgam terror attack, people were asked their religion before being shot. Here, people are being attacked based on their language. It is disappointing,' Shelar said.
He said the
(BJP), the largest party in the state, would protect both Marathi speakers and non-Marathi residents.
'Marathi is not a political issue for us,' he told reporters in Mumbai.
His comments follow an incident last week in Bhayandar, near Mumbai, where
(MNS) workers were seen in a viral video assaulting a shopkeeper who allegedly refused to speak in Marathi.
Police detained seven individuals in connection with the incident and later released them after serving notices.
'One brother's speech is incomplete and the other's is irrelevant'
Speaking about the joint rally held by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Raj Thackeray-led MNS, Shelar said the parties were free to take their own political decisions.
'It is a very good thing that two brothers came together.
Whether the two parties will contest the elections together or not is their right; they can decide whatever they want on that matter. We have nothing to say about that today,' Shelar said.
Referring to speeches made at the rally, he said, 'As far as yesterday's program is concerned, one brother's speech is incomplete, and the other's is irrelevant. What
said was not complete. He discussed Marathi, but did not elaborate on the entire topic."
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"
's speech was irrelevant, showing pleasure by joining one word with another word and collecting brownie points. There was nothing else in his entire speech except the mention of the fact that his government fell... In yesterday's meeting, neither language nor Maharashtra were a topic," Shelar added further.
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