Maharashtra Minister Compares Language Assaults to Pahalgam Terror Attack
Minister's Controversial Remarks
On Sunday, Ashish Shelar, a minister in Maharashtra and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, drew a controversial comparison between recent assaults on non-Marathi speakers in Maharashtra and a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in the deaths of 26 individuals.
Shelar stated that both incidents involved targeting Hindus, emphasizing, “In Pahalgam, individuals were killed due to their religion,” as reported during a press conference in Mumbai. He further questioned, “In Maharashtra, Hindus are being attacked solely based on the language they speak. What distinguishes these events?”
The Pahalgam attack on April 22 involved terrorists targeting tourists after inquiring about their names to determine their religion, with the majority of the victims being Hindu.
Shelar's comments followed an incident where seven individuals, allegedly affiliated with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by Raj Thackeray, assaulted a shopkeeper in Thane for not communicating in Marathi.
Additionally, members of the party vandalized the Mumbai office of entrepreneur Sushil Kedia after he remarked on social media about living in the city for three decades without mastering Marathi.
#WATCH | Mumbai: On Marathi language row, Maharashtra Minister Ashish Shelar says, "All these incidents cause pain, suffering, and mental distress. In Pahalgam, they shot them after asking about their religion. And here they beat up the innocent Hindus just because of the… pic.twitter.com/rXAa3iskQc
— Media Channel (@MediaChannel) July 6, 2025
These events have unfolded amid rising tensions in Maharashtra, sparked by the state government's initiative to introduce Hindi as a third language in primary schools alongside Marathi and English.
On June 29, the government retracted this resolution following significant public outcry.
Shelar asserted that the BJP-led administration would safeguard both the pride of Marathi speakers and the rights of non-Marathi residents, stating, “Marathi is not a political issue for us.”
He also criticized the recent collaboration between Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena and his cousin Raj Thackeray, labeling it an “opportunistic alliance.”
On Saturday, the two leaders held a rally to celebrate the reversal of the government's three-language policy.