Re: Can India stay united as a nation if Hindi people are asked to leave Maharashtra?
Hope Hindi speakers learn Marathi if they live in Maharashtra.
No Raj politics, but Marathi’s fine
Sanjay Jog
Mumbai, Feb 12 Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may be at the receiving end for perpetrating attacks on north Indians, but business houses in the commercial capital believe that non-Maharashtrians residing in the state may need to do some hard thinking to escape being targeted by advocates of identity Politics.
While they vehemently oppose the MNS violence, many in the corporate world think non-Maharashtrians could, perhaps, make a beginning by learning Marathi—if only to fend off the xenophobia.
Some propose sending fellow employees on crash courses in the native language and training by the Marathi manus.
For obvious reasons, a number of people contacted by FE did not want to go on the record with their views. Even key chambers of commerce preferred to remain tight-lipped. But off the record, several CEOs admitted that the latest agitation against north Indians had forced them to introspect whether they had done enough to promote the local language and culture among their staff.
Nearly 37% of migrants in Mumbai are from northern parts of the country. A senior management official with a power company, who hails from Uttar Pradesh and has picked up a few Marathi words, says, “I certainly do not support Raj Thackeray’s brand of Politics. But I don’t mind learning Marathi as I have been staying in Mumbai for a long time.”
Another official from an auditing firm, who hails from Bihar, says Raj Thackeray’s agitation is untimely, particularly when the Centre is set to develop Mumbai as an international financial centre. He, however, adds, “Those like me who have come a long way from our home states cannot remain ignorant of the local language and culture.”
An IT professional employed with an investment bank, who hails from Uttarakhand, says Marathi is not even a difficult language to learn and its script is remarkably close to Hindi.
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/No-Raj-politics--but-Marathi-s-fine/272313/