By IANS,
Mumbai : Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) members Monday attacked state Samajwadi Party chief Abu Asim Azmi inside the assembly when he insisted on taking his oath as a legislator in Hindi.
The day’s proceedings started smoothly with several members taking oath, wary of a so-called ‘open letter’ by MNS chief Raj Thackeray this morning urging all 288 legislators to take their oath in Marathi.
When his turn came, Azmi got up to take the oath in Hindi. Even as he uttered the first few words, MNS members, all of them first-timers in the House, sprang up from their seats, shouted slogans and rushed towards Azmi.
As Azmi continued to take the oath in Hindi, MNS’s Ramesh Banjle uprooted the microphone and threw it away.
Other MNS members came and surrounded Azmi, pushed and punched him and one member Ram Kadam was seen on live television slapping and hitting him on the chest and shoulders.
Stunned by the goings-on, several members, including newly-appointed ministers like Congress’ Rajendra Darda, Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar, Peasants and Workers Party leader Meenakshi Patil and several others rushed to shield Azmi from the MNS members’ wrath, but even they were pushed around.
The Protem Speaker Ganpatrao Deshmukh immediately adjourned the House for over half an hour.
Shortly after the attack, Azmi demanded the arrest of MNS chief Raj Thackeray.
“I have not done anything wrong by taking the oath as MLA (member of legislative assembly) in Hindi, it is our national language. I have respected my national language,” Azmi declared.
He said that since the MNS members have insulted the dignity of the House and shown disrespect to the national language, Thackeray should be arrested immediately.
“I cannot tolerate any insult to our national language,” he asserted.
Azmi said he had made it clear that he was not well-versed in Marathi and was learning the state language.
“In fact, one of my three party colleagues took the oath in Marathi, I took it in Hindi, so what was the need for creating such a ruckus in the House,” he asked.
“One member took the oath in English (Baba Siddiqui of Congress), and MNS did not object to it,” Azmi said.
However, the MNS members continued their aggressive stance, indulging in sloganeering, displaying banners and damaging the fittings inside the assembly.
Azmi submitted a written complaint to Protem Speaker Deshmukh demanding strict action against MNS members. The MNS has 13 members in the assembly.
Speaking to reporters, Siddiqui defended his decision to take the oath in English and said that the MNS did not object to it since Thackeray’s sons also study in English-medium schools.
Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who was present when the MNS members created the ruckus, termed the incident as “regretful” and urged that the legislators should be dealt with very strictly.
Defending the actions of the party legislators, MNS spokesperson Shirish Parker even argued that Hindi was not the national language of the country.