‘Speak Marathi Or Get Out’: Woman Abused In Mumbai Local As Seat Dispute Escalates
A viral video has captured a heated argument inside a crowded Mumbai local train, where a dispute over a seat escalated into a full-blown language row, with one woman telling others to “speak Marathi or get out.”
The incident, which took place on a Central Line train on Friday evening, highlights the simmering linguistic tensions currently gripping the state. The video shows six to seven women in a ladies’ coach engaged in a fierce verbal altercation that reportedly started as a minor disagreement over seating space.
In the clip, one woman can be heard shouting, “If you want to live in Mumbai, speak Marathi, or else get out,” which appeared to intensify the confrontation. The video has been widely circulated on social media, with some versions muted due to the use of strong language and verbal abuse.
Railway authorities have confirmed that the incident occurred in a ladies’ compartment on the Central Railway line but stated that no formal complaint has been filed so far.
This altercation is the latest flashpoint in the ongoing language debate in Maharashtra. It comes at a time when political outfits like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have been accused of targeting non-Marathi speakers.
In recent weeks, several incidents of violence linked to the language row have been reported. A shopkeeper in Mumbai’s Vikhroli area was recently assaulted by alleged MNS workers over a WhatsApp status deemed offensive to the Marathi language. In separate incidents, a street food vendor in Thane was slapped, and a migrant auto-rickshaw driver in Palghar was attacked for not speaking Marathi.
