MNS openly threatens Taarak Mehta team amid language row; 'Sainiks will slap it into you'

Popular comedy show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah was at the center of a controversy after one of its characters Champaklal in an episode stated that Hindi was the language of Mumbai. The statement did not sit well with many, but the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), in its customary style, took things too far and issued threats to the makers. 

READ: MNS Workers Land At 'Taarak Mehta' Actor's House Over Dialogue Row, Make Him Apologise

Shalini Thackeray slams Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah makers 

And now, MNS general secretary Shalini Thackeray has slammed the show and said that if the channel, SAB TV, did not understand that the common language of Mumbai is Marathi and not Hindi, then Maharashtrian soldiers will have to write the ‘thought for the day’ under their ears and that too in Marathi. She also threatened a ‘slap’ from Marathi ‘sainiks’ if the makers did not know that Marathi was Mumbai’s language

Before this, Ameya Khopkar, chief of MNS’s film wing, told Republic TV, “Since yesterday a video is going viral on social media. I want to ask the writer, Niren Bhatt, you know the language of Chennai, but not the language of Maharashtra?”.“We have written a letter to the makers, producers, and writers and if they do not apologise to the Marathi population, we will not let them work in Mumbai,” he continued.  

Earlier on Tuesday, MNS Chitrapat Sena workers landed up at the house of Amit Bhatt, who said the dialogue. The actor, who plays the character of protagonist Jethalal’s father,  was seen apologising for his dialogue in the TV episode

READ: MNS Threatens Makers Of Taarak Mehta For Calling Hindi 'language Of Mumbai'

Creator of the show Asit Kumar Modi’s statement where he agreed Marathi was Mumbai’s language and a video where they called to respect all languages did not please netizens, who demanded an apology and a disclaimer on the show.  

The dialogue that stirred controversy

Amit says in the video, “See, our Gokuldham is in Mumbai, what is Mumbai’s language? Hindi. That is why we will write the thought for the day in Hindi.” He added, “If our Gokuldam would’ve been in Chennai, we’d have written it in Tamil, and if our Gokuldam would’ve been in America and Europe, we’d have written in English.”   

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