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On his party’s fourth foundation day on Tuesday, Thackeray asked his workers to be aggressive on the use of Marathi and the issue of water thefts in the city. A few months ago, the Supreme
Court had warned MNS chief Raj Thackeray not to make incendiary statements. But he appears to have cocked a snook at the court. On his party’s fourth foundation day on Tuesday, Thackeray
asked his workers to be aggressive on the use of Marathi and the issue of water thefts in the city. “It is our duty to do ‘Marathi-isation’ of everything,” he told his workers at Yashwant
Natya Griha in Matunga. “Announcements at railway stations and airports should be in Marathi. Shishir Shinde [an MNS official] said Airtel has still not included Marathi in its voice message
system and has sought time because of some technical problem. Their time ends today. Air chi tail khecha [pull Air’s tail].” Within an hour, MNS workers attacked the mobile company’s
galleries at Bandra, Chakala and Thane. Thackeray asked party workers to approach nationalised banks and insist on giving preference to Marathi. “The banks, including SBI, have put up boards
in their offices saying they welcome communication in Hindi. This communication should be done in Marathi,” he said. Later, MNS general secretary Shirish Parkar said party workers would
visit every nationalised bank and hand over a memorandum urging preference for Marathi. Thackeray ordered party workers to thrash those who steal water. “Keep a strict vigil. I have observed
that pipelines have been broken and the residents around the pipelines use the water. If you spot them stealing water, thrash them.”