Click to play videoHours after MNS members slapped Maharashtra SP chief Abu Azmi inside the state Assembly when he tried to take his oath in Hindi, SP General Secretary Amar Singh says the party is ready to take on Raj Thackeray. In this Hindi versus Marathi battle, who is to blame for Maharashtra's shame? Amar Singh and NCP leader Jitendra Awhad debate on the issue.
CNN-IBN: Will you politicise this issue? Are you going to meet the violence inside the house with more violence outside it? You seem to have threatened MNS with more violence now?
Amar Singh: No, absolutely wrong. We don’t have so much muscle power. We are at the receiving end and have been mercilessly beaten by them (MNS). We are ready to take on their violence with our non-violence. But we will not tolerate this attitude. We love Marathi and have nothing against it. But at the same time Hindi is our mother tongue and the national language.
CNN-IBN: Point taken. But let us play the devil’s advocate. Was it not possible for Abu Azmi to say four lines in Marathi? It would have been a good way to reach out to the Marathi manoos. But you are playing your politics for your Hindi constituencies.
Amar Singh: First of all, Mumbai is known for Hindi movies. Will MNS stop Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan from producing Hindi movies?
CNN-IBN: That is fair enough. But what we are saying is that now both sides are provoking each other. This particular issue has now divided the state and the city in many ways.
Amar Singh: Why can’t Mr Raj Thackeray speak a line or two in Hindi? Why are you insisting that we should have spoken in Marathi? One of the MLAs of the Samajwadi Party knows Marathi so he did take his oath in that language. We are not against Marathi, otherwise we would have given direction to all our MLAs that they will have to take oath only in Hindi. But we have not done that.
Abu Azmi has also said that he is learning Marathi and he loves the language. I am also saying Jai Maharashtra because it is not a foreign land. It is part of our country. But just because we spoke in Hindi does not mean that we can be beaten or humiliated. And I blame the Congress for this.
CNN-IBN: The point made by Amar Singh is that the Congress-NCP must take responsibility for this incident. What is your response? You were silent when this was going on in the Assembly.
Jitendra Awhad: What happened today has put Maharashtra to shame. We were not silent spectators to what happened. You can see in the recordings that we jumped in the way to stop the riotous scene there. Whatever Amar Singh is saying… Mumbai is known for its culture so let’s not bring the film industry into all this. Let’s be politically correct that both are trying to please their constituencies. Both are playing games which are finally going to result in something that they will gain at the cost of Maharashtra.
CNN-IBN: So NCP and Congress will sit and watch both these parties playing political battles on the streets of Mumbai and Pune?
Amar Singh: Why did they allow this to happen at the very onset? Raj Thackeray had been threatening to do this kind of hooliganism for the last few days. Everyone had prior information of this, they could have recruited more marshals. This should not have been allowed. It is public knowledge that NCP had said that in case they need support then they can take support of MNS to form government. So the nexus between MNS and NCP is well known.
Jitendra Awhad: Our leaders Mr Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel had categorically said that under no circumstances in any political scenario will we join hands with MNS. Amar Singh is just aiming for the Uttar Pradesh elections. And all this is being done at the cost of Maharashtra. We have big problems in the state like famine and price rise. So let us have a serious look at that but here we are wasting our time on questions of language and mother tongue.
CNN-IBN: Why is SP playing its UP politics in Maharashtra?
Amar Singh: Absolutely not and I don’t have to fear NCP in UP because they don’t have any presence there. But please remember I love Marathi too but not at the cost of Hindi. And if this is a crime then you are most welcome to arrest me.
CNN-IBN: But what is the message that the country is getting out of all this? Is the state now serious about taking on Raj Thackeray? You know that the more Raj Thackeray grows the Shiv Sena vote gets weaker. So you too are playing your politics here.
Jitendra Awhad: Let me make this clear that Raj Thackeray is trying to take the place which is being left vacant by the Shiv Sena. For the vote of Marathi manoos they are taking Maharashtra for a ride.
CNN-IBN: You act against four MLAs and suspend them for four years. When are you going to go after the person who is guiding these MLAs? Raj Thackeray had already said that if Abu Azmi takes his oath in Hindi then he will get after him. But the NCP never said anything then.
Jitendra Awhad: I have said it openly that the Constitution has cleared 20 languages and anybody has the right to speak in those languages. Nobody is with Raj Thackeray on this issue. We need to create an atmosphere whereby we need to prove that we are one.
CNN-IBN: We have already seen several members of the SP coming out on the streets of Mumbai and Thane pelting stones and shutting shops. Are you now going to tell your workers to stop and down the political temperatures?
Amar Singh: I will very humbly request the workers of SP to maintain peace and tranquility but at the same time I will say that Abu Azmi or Amar Singh have not created any provocation but we are at the receiving end of the tyranny of Raj Thackeray.
CNN-IBN: You said you have provoked no one but a few hours ago you said that ‘we will teach him a lesson.’ What is the message that you are sending out? One form of goondaism will be met by another form of goondaism? Abu Azmi has also been provoking Raj Thackeray at every instance?
Amar Singh: I have said that hum inki battameezi ke eent ka jawab apni sabhyata ke pathar se denge (we will reply to their act of indecency with our decency). We will welcome all Marathi manoos with flowers in UP. If a Marathi is elected in UP and he takes his oath in Marathi then he will be respected.
CNN-IBN: The MNS has called a bandh in parts of Mumbai and Pune. Will tough action be taken if MNS takes law into their hands?
Jitendra Awhad: This country has been torn apart in the name of caste for the last 5,000 years. Then began religious riots and after that we have seen Hindu-Muslim differences. The new episode is now on the language lines. We will stop whosoever tries to play on sentiments in politics.
CNN-IBN: For 40 years Bal Thackeray made similar speeches and resorted to violent methods and Congress and NCP stood by. Now you are standing by Raj Thackeray because it suits your politics.
Jitendra Awhad: No, Bal Thackeray had to change his angle and he brought in many people to do that. He got many non-Maharashtrians when he began speaking on larger lines of Hindutva. So Raj Thackeray is just taking over the vacuum created by the lack of leadership of Uddhav Thackeray. This is plain politics.
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