Mumbai businessman’s office vandalised by MNS workers for his ‘Marathi language remark’, he later apologises
On the sidelines of the ‘grand’ joint rally of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, MNS workers vandalised businessman Sushil Kedia’s office after he posted on X refusing to learn Marathi and tagging Raj Thackeray.
On Friday, Kedia took to his X account stating, “Do note @Raj Thackeray I dont know Marathi properly even after living for 30 years in Mumbai & with your gross misconduct I have made it a resolve that until such people as you are allowed to pretend to be taking care of Marathi Manus I take pratigya I won’t learn Marathi. Kya karna hai bol?”
A day later, Kedia’s WeWork office near Century Bazar in Mumbai’s Worli was vandalised by goons of MNS on Saturday morning.
Hours after his office was vandalised, the businessman and investment analyst, apologised and admitted that he “overreacted” while writing the tweet.
In a video posted on X, he was seen saying, “My tweet happened in a wrong state of mind, under duress and stress and further now it is getting manipulated and misinterpreted to suit the interests of people who want to gain from any controversy”.
“Having come under pressure mentally from the violence inflicted on those who do not know Marathi, I ended up overreacting. I realized I must take back my overreactions and withdraw. Truth is, even after living for 30 years in Mumbai, the level of proficiency and fluency that a native Marathi born can have, we will not be able to achieve. And for avoiding any embarrassments or confusions, one has been using Marathhi language only in less than formal situations with a casual atmosphere only before people very closely known to us,” he said.
He also said that unlike his experience with seven other Indian languages learned over time, learning Marathi had been uniquely difficult due to a recurring atmosphere of fear—one that fosters hesitation, as even an innocently misplaced word or phrase might be deliberately misconstrued by some as an intentional insult to the language.
“In such a situation, I, if overreacted in that tweet, I clearly understand that what a contradiction I’ve been myself,” he said.
The incident unfolds against the backdrop of a Marathi versus non-Marathi controversy in Maharashtra. Amid the ongoing tensions, Chief Minister Fadnavis stated on Friday that the state government will not tolerate “hooliganism under the guise of language”
Maharashtra: MNS workers vandalized businessman Sushil Kedia’s office after he posted on X refusing to learn Marathi and tagging MNS chief Raj Thackeray pic.twitter.com/RSVocFIF0I
— IANS (@ians_india) July 5, 2025
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