MAHARASHTRA: An innocuous incident of lighting incense (dhoop) led to a huge brawl rekindling the ‘Marathi versus Migrants’ disquiet in a posh housing complex in Kalyan town of Thane, the home district of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The incident occurred late on Wednesday night when a north Indian member of the Ajmera Heights Society in Yogidham abused some Marathi families and allegedly summoned over a dozen outsiders who brutally assaulted them with iron rods, pipes and sticks, injuring at least 3 persons.
The clash occurred between the families of Akhilesh Shukla who claimed to be an employee at Mantralaya and boasted of high connections, and the Kalvikate family, on Friday morning when the angry members of the cosmopolitan society staged a sit-in protest in the building compound demanding immediate action against Shukla and others involved in the attack.
After the argument over lighting the incense sticks, Shukla abused Lata Balkrishna Kalvikate, 56, even as other neighbours, including Dheeraj Deshmukh and his sibling Abhijit Deshmukh, joined to support her.
“All of you Marathis are filthy people. You eat fish and mutton… You fit in slums and are unworthy to live in such buildings, ” screamed Shukla, as other society members took strong umbrage.
When Deshmukh and his brother Abhijit intervened, Shukla turned and shouted at them that Marathi people sweep in front of him, and “if I call up the Chief Minister’s Office, I will show you all your Marathi pride”. He threatened to ‘rape’ Abhijit’s wife Monali and Geeta Shukla exhorted their (outsider) supporters ‘not to spare anyone, including women or children and seniors’.
The stunned society members told media persons that even Shukla’s wife Geeta also pulled the hair and assaulted some of the other women and “there’s an atmosphere of fear in the area”.
Earlier on Wednesday-Thursday night, Shukla’s supporters hammered at least three persons, including Abhijit Deshmukh and Dheeraj Deshmukh. Though they were treated at a local hospital, Abhijit Deshmukh has been shifted to a government hospital in Mumbai due to his serious injuries.
Later, upon Dheeraj Deshmukh’s police complaint, Shukla was called to the Khadakpada Police Station, but locals alleged that “he was given VIP treatment” by the cops and no action was taken including lodging an FIR.
As videos of the fracas went viral on Thursday, the police finally lodged a formal complaint against the Shukla couple and 10 others, but none of them have been arrested so far.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-Nationalist Congress Party (SP), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and others raked up the matter, slamming the government for the collapse of law and order in the state, and demanded strong action against the culprits.
Congress’ Vijay Wadettiwar, SS (UBT)’s Aaditya Thackeray, Leader of Opposition (Council) Ambadas Danve, Sanjay Raut, NCP (SP)’s Dr Jitendra Awhad and an MNS Kalyan leader flayed the MahaYuti regime, protesting that now some persons are raising objections on peoples’ dietary habits or their attire.
As the issue snowballed, state Shiv Sena Minister Shambhuraj Desai said that he would apprise Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the matter and assured that appropriate action will be taken.