Updated 5 February 2026 at 20:48 IST
Non-Marathi Bank Staff Threatened, Forced To Speak Marathi By MNS Leaders In Mumbai | VIRAL VIDEO
A bank employee was threatened by workers of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in Mumbai for not knowing Marathi. The incident took place at a branch of Bank of Maharashtra in the Mahim area.
Mumbai: Non-Marathi people are still being targeted in Maharashtra as the language row in the state continues to intensify. In a new incident, a bank employee was threatened by workers of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in Mumbai for not knowing Marathi. The incident took place at a branch of Bank of Maharashtra in the Mahim area.
A video of MNS leader Anish Khandagale threatening a bank employee for not speaking Marathi has gone viral on social media. As per reports, a Marathi youth had been visiting the bank for a loan for the past month, but the non-Marathi bank official was neither granting him the loan nor speaking to him properly.
The youth allegedly informed MNS leaders about the entire incident, after which MNS workers arrived at the bank and threatened the bank official, pressurising him to speak in Marathi.
The bank official replied that he didn't know Marathi and asked them to speak in Hindi. The video showed the employee saying, “Nahi aati mujhe Marathi. Hindi aati hai (I don't know Marathi. I know Hindi.)”
The MNS workers continued to pressure him to speak in Marathi, saying, “You work in Bank of Maharashtra, right?…Speak Marathi.” The bank employee asked, "Where is it written that it is mandatory to speak in Marathi?"
The angry MNS workers told the bank manager that the bank official who ‘insulted’ the Marathi language should be transferred immediately, otherwise they would stage a protest at the bank tomorrow at 12 PM.
The bank official is from Madhya Pradesh.
The video triggered a backlash on social media, with a netizen commenting, "Salute to bank officer for giving proper reply with calmness."
This is not the first instance of language row in Maharashtra. Last year, MNS workers repeatedly slapped a sweet shop owner for not speaking Marathi. In another instance, a 19-year-old boy named Jitendra Khaire was beaten in a crowded local train for speaking in Hindi. The man who slapped the college-going boy told him, “Don't you know how to speak Marathi? Are you ashamed to speak Marathi?”
Published By : Nidhi Sinha
Published On: 5 February 2026 at 17:38 IST