Nagpur:
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday
demanded action against MNS chief Raj Thackeray for trying to divide
the country in the name of language and humiliating the lingua
franca.
”It is vote bank politics and Raj
Thackeray will not succeed in dividing the country in the name of
opposition to Hindi language. Those humiliating the lingua franca in
Maharashtra should be punished,” VHP international President Ashok
Singhal said.
Referring to the
incident in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly where SP
legislator Abu Azmi was manhandled for taking oath in Hindi, Singhal
said humiliating the lingua franca is an open treason and its
violators should be punished.
Singhal added that insult of
‘Rashtrabhasha’ from a small identity person, who is trying to
create hatred among the people, couldn’t be tolerated.
Earlier, a case for treason was lodged here today against Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray and party's four MLAs
for manhandling Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi in the Maharashtra
assembly.
The
incident had occurred when Azmi tried to take the oath in Hindi in
Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha recently.
The
case was lodged at a local Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate
court against Raj Thackeray and MLAs Rajesh Banjle, Ram Kadam,
Basant Geete and Shishir Shinde.
They
have been charged with degrading Hindi, the national language, and
the Indian Constitution by objecting the MLA on taking oath in Hindi
and indulging in violence.
The
court has fixed November 21 as the next date of hearing into the
case.
MNS
MLAs on first day of the assembly session had created the ruckus in the Maharashtra Assembly after
SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi took oath in Hindi.
As Azmi started to take his oath in Hindi, several MNS members
swooped on him and pushed him aside. Legislator Ramesh Banjle
uprooted the microphone from the podium.
When Azmi attempted to save himself, MNS member Ram Kadam slapped him
and hit him on the face and chest, shocking the 288-member house
that had converged for the oath-taking ceremony.
In a similar case, Chief Judicial Magistrate R R Badodiya
in
Mandsaur court had issued notices
yesterday against Raj Thackeray and four other MLAs—Shishir Shinde,
Ramesh Wanjale, Vasant Gite and Ram Kadam for attacking Abu Asim
Azmi.
Interestingly, the same MNS
members remained mute spectators when MLAs from Congress and BJP
took oath in Hindi, Sanskrit and even English.
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