Police Filed Chargesheet against MNS chief Raj Thackeray

Mumbai::

Police file 30-page chargesheet against MNS chief Raj Thackeray and 19 others in connection with violence during Railway Recruitment Examination in Mumbai last year.

4 MNS legislators suspended for attacking Azmi

MUMBAI:

Four legislators of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) were suspended by the Maharashtra assembly on Monday for four years for attacking Samajwadi Party member Abu Azmi for taking his legislator's oath in Hindi.

The four legislators are: Shishir Shinde, Ram Kadam, who had slapped and punched Samajwadi Party member Abu Asim Azmi, Vasant Gite and Ramesh Banjle.

Leaders condemn assault on Azmi, demand Raj Thackeray's arrest
Leaders of several political parties from Hindi-speaking states and the CPI on Monday came down heavily on MNS whose members punched SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi for taking oath in Hindi and demanded action against Raj Thackeray for trying to divide the country on grounds of language.

They also termed the incident in the Maharashtra assembly as "anti-national and unconstitutional" and said the country could disintegrate if divisive forces were not checked.

Condemning the attack on Azmi, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said his party leader had done the nation proud by taking oath in the national lanaguage. "I would like to congratulate Azmi for maintaining the honour of the national language by taking oath in Hindi," he told reporters in Lucknow.

Reacting to the incident, RJD chief Lalu Prasad said in Patna that if efforts were not taken urgently to check divisive forces, the country could disintegrate.

"If India splits, it will be because of elements like Raj Thackeray. If urgent steps are not taken to keep such elements under check, nobody can save the country from disintegration," Prasad said, asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take strong to stop such acts.

His ally and LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan said, "Hindi is our national language and Raj Thackeray and others responsible for the assault on Azmi must be arrested immediately."

Echoing similar sentiments, CPI leader D Raja said everyone had the right to take oath in the language he wants.

Abu Azmi Punched for taking oath in Hindi

MUMBAI:

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) members on Monday attacked state Samajwadi Party chief Abu Azmi inside the legislature after he insisted on taking his oath as a legislator in Hindi.

The day's proceedings started smoothly with several members taking oath, wary of a so-called 'open letter' by MNS chief Raj Thackeray this morning urging all 288 legislators to take their oath in Marathi.

However, Azmi had declared that he would not be intimidated by such threats by "extra-constitutional authorities" and announced that he would take the oath in the national language Hindi.

"If they try to stop me, they could attract privilege proceedings," he declared, minutes before stepping inside the high security Maharashtra legislature at Nariman Point.

When his turn came, Azmi got up to take the oath in Hindi. Even as he uttered the first few words, MNS members, all of them first-timers in the House, sprang up from their seats, shouted slogans and rushed towards Azmi.

As Azmi continued to take the oath in Hindi, MNS's Ramesh Banjle uprooted the microphone and threw it away.

Other MNS members came and surrounded Azmi, pushed and punched him and one member Ram Kadam was seen on live television slapping and hitting him on the chest and shoulders.

Stunned by the goings-on, several members, including newly-appointed ministers like Congress' Rajendra Darda, Nationalist Congress Party's Ajit Pawar, Peasants and Workers Party leader Meenakshi Patil, and several others, rushed to shield Azmi from the MNS members' wrath, but even they were pushed around.

The Protem Speaker Ganpatrao Deshmukh immediately adjourned the House for over half an hour.

However, the MNS members continued their aggressive stance, indulging in sloganeering, displaying banners and damaging the fittings inside the assembly.

Chief minister Ashok Chavan, who was present when the MNS members created the ruckus, termed the incident as "regretful" and urged that the legislators should be dealt with very strictly.

Defending the actions of the party legislators, MNS spokesperson Shirish Parker even argued that Hindi was not the national language of the country.