Since last few week I an watching many debates and discussions going on, on the television, on the internet and in the newspaper, that was Karan Johar right in going to Raj Thackeray to apologize for calling Mumbai, Bombay in his film. And most of the people i.e. the guests as well as the audience participating in the debates and discussions said that no, he was not right because this would give the issue of Marathi Nationalism more hype and unnecessary importance. They also said that calling Mumbai, Bombay is not a problem at all and quoted Shakespeare- ‘What is there in the name?’
But I don’t understand the problem in calling it Mumbai when it has been officially named as Mumbai since last thirteen to fourteen years. People have no problem in calling Madras, Chennai, Calcutta, Kolkata, Bangalore, Bengaluru, Trivandrum, Thiruvananthpuram, Kochi, Cochin then what is the problem in calling Bombay, Mumbai?
People talk about vandalism and hooliganism on the issues of Marathi and compulsion on Boards in Marathi Language. When there are any demonstrations regarding boards of shops, malls, multiplexes etc. not being made in Marathi, all national media i.e. all English and Hindi news channels and newspapers criticize it saying that this is only vandalism and law being taken in hands.
But even all these things happen in the South too. Even there, there are violent demonstrations if the boards there are not put in their native language. And when the Bombay High Court has given orders that all boards in Maharashtra have to be made in Marathi along with other languages, then what is the problem to respect the courts decision and do so?
In South the organizations there are demanding that the boards there should be only in their native language and not in any other language i.e. Tamil, Telgu, and Kannda etc. But then the national media does not criticize them and start debates on those issues as they do in case of Marathi. Why do people have to criticize Marathi and people talking about Marathi? Why don’t they criticize the Tamil and Telgu Nationalist Organizations? Why is there this partiality against only Marathi?
The city of Bombay was called Mumbai in Marathi or in Maharashtra even in the post independence era. Same was the case with Madras. But people have and tend to happily accept the fact that the name of Madras in now called Chennai and it should be called so. Then why don’t people do so in case of Mumbai?
The reason that Raj Thackeray and all Marathi Nationalists have got such a big support is because they do experience all the things he says in their everyday life. If you ask in Maharashtra, any North Indian, ‘Please speak in Marathi I can’t understand Hindi.’ The person will rudely walk away and sometimes also say, ‘it is the national language how you don’t understand it?’ and give him a disgusting look. This ‘has’ happened with my grandfather and so now he is a staunch supporter of MNS. Many times people do not talk in Marathi even if they can speak and understand Marathi. People have experienced that their children do not get admission in Engineering and Medical colleges because the North Indians are given preferences by the North Indian management and the Marathi students do not get admission though they have the necessary merit to get admission in the college. The builders give preference to North Indian residents and do not sell the home apartments they have built to Marathi residents though they are ready to pay as per the rate. And these are two of many reasons the Marathi youth and urban Marathi population tends to support Raj Thackeray.
When there are talks in the government regarding making Hindi compulsory in every school and college, the media asks the HRD Minister, ‘Don’t you think that the North is trying to force their language and culture on the south? Because majority of the people there can’t understand or speak Hindi.’ When this is said by Marathi Nationalists then everybody says that Hindi is our national language and every Indian should be able to understand and speak it. But when the South Indian Nationalists say so why don’t the media tell the same to them? How fair is this?
Now on November 3, 2009 people of some Kannada Nationalist Group stoned the houses of Marathi people in Belgaum because the nameplates of those people were made in Marathi. It is compulsory to have boards made in Kannada there. But the organizations there demand that the font of Kannda should be largest among all languages and not English and Hindi. Lot of violence and vandalism has occurred there for this. But the media never goes there and say, ‘What is there in the name and don’t we have other more important issues than this.’ Why? Why all these sort of questions to be asked only against Marathi?
In Belgaum which is actually a disputed region because the case on whether Belgaum should be a part of Maharashtra or Karnataka. But even then speaking Kannada is compulsory there and if you don’t request to the officials in all government offices in Kannada (even Hindi is unaccepted) they do not listen to you. They say, ‘Speak in Kannada. Only then we’ll do your work.’ And this is purposely so that the Kannada influence in Belgaum increases. But all this discriminates the Marathi speaking people in Belgaum. But the Hindi and English media never goes to Belgaum and say that this is wrong because you discriminate the Marathi speaking population of Belgaum. And even if anyone asks them this the officials say, ‘We don’t care. This is Karnataka and you have to talk in Kannada here.’
This is clear discrimination against Marathi language and people there. But the Hindi and English media pays no heed of this. Why?
