Maharashtra minister compares assaults on non-Marathi speakers in state to Pahalgam terror attack

Maharashtra minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashish Shelar on Sunday drew a parallel between the recent cases of assault on non-Marathi speakers in the state and the terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which left 26 persons dead.

He said that Hindus were targeted in these incidents.

“In Pahalgam, people were killed because of their religion,” PTI quoted Shelar as saying at a press conference in Mumbai. “Here in Maharashtra, Hindus are being assaulted only because of the language they speak. What’s the difference?”

During the attack on April 22, the terrorists at Baisaran had targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion. All but three of those killed were Hindu.

Shelar’s remarks came a week after seven unidentified persons, believed to be members of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, assaulted a shopkeeper in Thane district for not speaking in Marathi.

On Saturday, suspected workers of the party also vandalised the Mumbai office of entrepreneur Sushil Kedia, a day after he posted on social media that he had lived in the city for 30 years without learning Marathi “properly”.

#WATCH | Mumbai: On Marathi language row, Maharashtra Minister Ashish Shelar says, "All these incidents cause pain, suffering, and mental distress. In Pahalgam, they shot them after asking about their religion. And here they beat up the innocent...

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