Talking Mumbai

Language chauvinism is a political strategy for BMC polls. But it can create dangerous social divisions

There’s constructive politics, which concerns itself with the lot of the people, and there’s cynical politics, which only serves the interests of its conductors. By those measures, it’s hard to fit Maharashtra’s ongoing language row into a constructive politics mould. While there might have been a case for not burdening little schoolchildren with a third language – Hindi – and charges of “Hindi imposition” may have resonated in the state, they ceased to be an issue when Maharashtra govt withdrew the three-language order under intense opposition last month. The Thackeray cousins were still entitled to their triumphal event – Marathicha Awaaz – last Saturday because politics, like Wimbledon matches, requires constantly scoring points against opponents. However, by targeting Hindi speakers in and around Mumbai they’re letting a genie out of the bottle that’s never easy to lure back inside.

By what stretch of ideology does the debate over teaching Hindi in Maharashtra’s primary schools justify the slapping of a non-Marathi-speaking mithai shop owner and his employee? The accused in this case are members of Raj Thackeray’s MNS, which has a record of thumbing its nose at the law. As he warned during Saturday’s rally – “You may rule the assembly, but we rule the streets.” The irony – lost on him – is that after almost 20 years of hate-mongering against “outsiders” – Hindi-speaking north Indians – his party has not found acceptance in Maharashtra’s heart. It does not have a seat in Lok Sabha or the state assembly. The only time it had double-digit assembly seats – 13 in 2009 – it earned lasting infamy when its members assaulted Samajwadi Party’s Abu Azmi in the House for taking his oath in Hindi.

But consider the ramifications of a rejected party’s rejected ideology – a Maharashtra minister tried to join an MNS protest on Tuesday. With municipal polls due across the state, other politicians may also try othering Hindi speakers. Meanwhile, BJP’s Jharkhand MP Nishikant Dubey has dared Sainiks of all colours to visit “Bihar, UP, TN” for a taste of “patak patak ke marenge”. None of this is constructive. A toxic discourse doesn’t serve voters anywhere. It doesn’t solve Mumbai’s civic issues, nor does it improve the learning outcomes of Maharashtra’s children. Maharashtra prides itself on being one of India’s biggest engines of growth. It’s aiming to be a $1tn economy. It can’t get there with this brand of divisive cynical politics.

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