Sena takes Marathi sign demand to museum,it agrees

“We will come back on February 25 and check if the changes have been made,” said Sena vibhag pramukh (Parel) Ajay Chaudhari,who led the protest.

The museum,in Byculla,is the city’s oldest,set up in 1872. Its collection of valuable artifacts includes sculptures,pottery,coins,ivory work and paintings. It has several galleries including an industrial one and another on the origins of Bombay,with all explanations in English and Hindi.

“Marathi is the mother tongue of Maharashtra and when the administrative language of the state is Marathi,how come the museum signs do not use it?” said Chaudhari.

The BMC has entered into an agreement with INTACH and Bajaj Foundation to oversee the museum. The agreement,Chaudhari said,mentions Marathi signs. He added they protested because a Marathi board saying “Bhau Daji Lad Museum” had been removed and replaced by one saying “Kamalnayan Bajaj Foundation”.

Chaudhari said the museum is widely visited by schoolchildren from across the state,some of them from rural areas and hence without knowledge of English. “What are these children and others who don’t know English supposed to do? The museum can have any number of languages but Marathi is a must,” he said.

Tasneem Mehta of INTACH,managing trustee and convener for the museum,said the changes will be made soon. “This is an international museum and we get a lot of townspeople and foreigners (as visitors). Since Hindi is more accessible to people,in the interest of the institution and visitors we had English and Hindi. The gallery banners do not have space to include three languages,so we will do away with Hindi to include Marathi.”