Mumbai/Pune: Workers of the Raj Thackeray-led MNS have been confronting managers of nationalised bank branches across Thane and Pune and using strong-arm tactics over the last few days for not using Marathi in communicating with customers, prompting one of the banks to write to the CM seeking protection and action against the offenders.
Chairman of Bank of Maharashtra Officers’ Association Rajeev Tamhane in a letter to the CM on Thursday said since its staff come from diverse linguistic backgrounds and hold transferable jobs, it would be “impractical to expect every officer to learn the local language…”
Thackeray at his Gudi Padwa rally on March 30 had reiterated his party’s stand on making Marathi mandatory for official purposes. Since then, MNS activists have upped the ante. In one instance, police booked an MNS worker for slapping an SBI bank employee. Reacting to the incidents, the CM said while it was “not wrong to demand Marathi in Maharashtra…if someone takes the law in his hand, then the law will take its course.”
Tamhane in his letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said, “Some antisocial elements are indulging in acts such as threatening and beating up bank officials. We condemn such criminal activity, impacting the day-to-day functioning and customer service of the banks.”
“We request that the bank management, including managing directors (MDs), chief executive officers (CEOs), executive directors (EDs), and zonal managers, be directed to take concrete steps in safeguarding bank employees from such threats,” Tamhane said. “If immediate action is not taken, we will be left with no choice but to escalate our protest, including strikes and other legal measures.”
There have been several instances this week of bank staff being browbeaten by MNS activists in the wake of Thackeray’s call. In Ambernath, MNS workers entered a Bank of Maharashtra branch and intimidated the manager, accusing him of failing to use the official state language while interacting with customers. A video capturing the confrontation went viral on social media. The clip showed the MNS men banging a table, shoving a computer monitor and shouting at the manager, demanding that he converse in Marathi. The bank manager appeared unfazed and told the MNS workers that as part of an all-India service, he was permitted to use any permissible language in official communications. “One cannot be expected to learn the local language instantly; it takes time,” he is heard saying in the video.
In Thane, a group led by MNS city chief Ravindra More visited the Vartak Nagar branch of Karnataka Bank and asked the manager why the branch had failed to put up instructions in Marathi. They presented a Marathi alphabet book to the manager and removed an informative board printed in English, urging the administration to start displaying information in Marathi. MNS also issued a warning to staff of the postal department at Manpada, to ensure interaction with customers in Marathi.
His colleague Sandeep Pachange appealed to management of schools not to discourage or penalise students from speaking in Marathi as it is the state’s native language. A video also showed a group of MNS activists led by functionary Samiksha Markande confronting staff of a nationalised bank branch in Kopri after an employee initially refused to speak in Marathi. The video showed them warning they would stage a protest, following which the bank staff issued an apology.
MNS workers visited banks in Ulhasnagar, where they tore down posters in English. In Lonavla, the police registered a non-cognisable offence against an MNS worker for slapping a bank employee during their conversation with the manager, an official said.
In the video, MNS workers are seen arguing with the manager of the State Bank of India’s Lonavla branch for not using Marathi and issuing warnings. When a Marathi-speaking employee of the bank tried to intervene, some party workers were seen slapping him and pushing him out of the cabin. “We have registered an offence against one MNS worker for slapping the bank employee. The bank has also submitted a complaint, and we are investigating,” senior inspector Suhas Jagtap of the Lonavala police station said.