Harsh Goenka on Marathi row: 'Don't bully, Maharashtra is too evolved for this theatre'

RPG Enterprises Chairman Harsh Goenka weighed in on the escalating Marathi language row on Saturday, urging restraint and calling out coercive tactics being used in Maharashtra in the name of linguistic pride. 

"Maharashtra is too cosmopolitan, too dignified, too evolved to need this kind of theatre,” Goenka posted on X. "Respect for any language must come from the heart, not from an open palm. If someone wants to learn it, encourage them. If they don’t know it, help them. But don’t bully them."

Goenka's remarks came after a spate of violent incidents involving Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) supporters allegedly targeting people for not speaking Marathi - including an attack on the Mumbai office of investor Sushil Kedia.

Kedia, who had posted online that he had lived in Mumbai for 30 years without learning Marathi and had no plans to do so, became the target of vandalism in Worli. Unidentified individuals threw stones at his office and raised slogans supporting MNS chief Raj Thackeray, news agency PTI reported, citing police. 
Kedia had earlier written: "I don't know Marathi properly even after living for 30 years in Mumbai & with your gross misconduct I have made it a resolve that until such people as you are allowed to pretend to be taking care of Marathi Manus I take pratigya I won’t learn Marathi. Kya karna hai bol?"

When a user online asked Goenka, "People like Kedia proudly say they don't know Marathi and won't learn it despite being in Maharashtra for 30 years. What is to be done with them?" Goenka replied: "Law will decide, not you."

Dr. Sumeet Shah, Director of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at PSRI Hospital, also backed Goenka's stand. "Mumbai has always attracted those who are hard-working and want to achieve something in life, from all over the country. Actors, Businessman, Professionals, MNC 's. It is the Financial Capital of India. There is a "Mumbai Work Culture" which is admired everywhere in India. The real Mumbaikars are Resilient, Adaptive, and Tolerant. It is home to one of the largest Film & Music Industry." 

Shah further said that Mumbai cannot be held ransom to a small herd of people who believe in divide and rule over language. "It cannot be held hostage to goondaism."

As tensions rose, MNS chief Raj Thackeray addressed a rally alongside Uddhav Thackeray and warned his workers against recording attacks on non-Marathi speakers. "Be it Gujarati or anyone else, they must know Marathi. But there is no need to beat people for not speaking Marathi…If someone creates unnecessary drama, you must hit below their eardrums," he said. He added: "Don't make a video of the incident. Let the person beaten up tell that he has been beaten up; you don’t need to tell everyone."