5 arrested after MNS activists vandalise Sushil Kedia’s Mumbai office over remarks on Marathi; investment analyst apologises

The activists were seen raising slogans against the investment analyst, and hailing Marathi language and Thackeray. Security personnel were seen struggling to stop the vandals.

Kedia’s remarks sparked a controversy amid political tension in Maharashtra after MNS activists are alleged to have slapped a sweet shop owner recently in Mira Bhayandar near Mumbai because he did not speak in Marathi.

MNS leaders also shared statements in response to Kedia’s remarks, and party activists threatened to slap him if he insulted Marathi.

‘I ended up overreacting,’ says Sushil Kedia

Releasing a video statement on Saturday, Sushil Kedia said, “My tweet happened in a wrong state of mind, under duress and stress and further now it is getting manipulated and misinterpreted to suit the interest of people who want to gain from any controversy. Having come under pressure mentally from the violence inflicted on those who do not know Marathi, I ended up overreacting. I realise I must take back my overreaction…”

He further said, “The truth is that even after living for 30 years in Mumbai, the level of proficiency and fluency that a native Marathi-born can have, we will not be able to achieve, and for avoiding any embarrassments or confusions, one has been using Marathi language only in less-than-formal situations…only before people very closely known to us.”

“It has not happened to me in the use of seven other Indian languages that I could learn over period of time and for the simple reason that when there is an atmosphere of fear that keeps on returning back time to time, again and again, it creates natural hesitation – what if I end up speaking a single word or phrase out of context or inappropriately, and some people will choose to blow it out of proportion to purposefully interpret as an insult being inflicted upon Marathi. Dum ghoot jaata hai aise mahol me (I feel choked in such an environment),” Kedia added.

‘Tweeted out of haste and stress’

Calling Raj Thackeray a “hero”, Kedia further said that he has always had a “deep sense of appreciation and gratitude” for the strong issues he raises.

Terming his remarks an emotional reaction, the analyst said, “The tweet that I made out of haste and out of stress…conveyed things that can be interpreted in many ways. But if you look at my past tweets, the way I have been appreciative of Raj Thackeray-ji, I am hopeful that you will realise that jab apne hi apno ka dam ghuta dete hain to galtiya charo taraf hone lagti hai. Meri galti ko main swikarta hu aur kshama ki yachna karta hu (When our own people push us to a limit where we get choked, then we are bound to do mistakes. I admit my mistake and request them to forgive me).”