Mumbai News: MNS Warns Gujarati Residents In Ghatkopar Over Ill-Treating Marathi Neighbours For Eating Non-Vegetarian Food

The eastern suburb of Ghatkopar saw yet another altercation among Gujarati and Marathi-speaking groups after an argument broke out over eating non-vegetarian food. The dispute forced the police to intervene after members of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena also jumped into the matter.

A video of MNS workers issuing a warning to Gujarati residents of a housing society in Ghatkopar on Wednesday went viral on social media. The workers accused the residents of ill-treating four Marathi-speaking families living there for eating non-vegetarian food. Local MNS leader Raj Parte was seen in the video, alleging that the Marathi-speaking families were called dirty for eating fish and meat.

"Anybody can live in Mumbai and work here, but we will not tolerate such things....how can others dictate what they should eat," Parte was heard saying in the video while a resident can be heard countering him and saying that there were no restrictions about food. Parte also alleged that Marathi-speaking families in a nearby locality were forced to order food from outside as the housing society prohibited them from cooking non-vegetarian food at home.

Ghatkopar police intervened in the matter and sorted the issue after receiving an alert from a few residents following the escalation in arguments. Although no official complaint was filed in this matter, sources said that the police has given a verbal warning to the residents to prevent from ill-treating their Marathi-speaking residents.

While MNS and Shiv Sena have alleged in the past that Marathi-speakers were not allowed to buy or rent a flat in some areas as they eat non-vegetarian food, the former has been very active in cases of altercations over speaking Marathi. It has also been raising the demand of mandatory use of Marathi in public places including government offices and banks.

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