A Muslim woman was allegedly asked to speak in Marathi by a municipal corporation official in Navi Mumbai, leading to a commotion at the office.

The woman had come to the corporation office to enquire about birth certificates.

Fortunately for her, a Muslim man who witnessed the incident intervened and defended her right to speak in the language of her convenience. He questioned the government official by pointing at an English sign at the counter, asking why it was written in English and not in Marathi. A video of the incident emerged on social media platforms.

“Instead of performing your duty, you are playing politics here?” the man asked the government official.

Language-based discrimination is not uncommon in Maharashtra. In July, an auto rickshaw driver in Palghar district was assaulted by members of Shiv Sena (UBT) for ‘anti-Marathi’ remarks.

In April, two women, one of them carrying a baby in her arms, were beaten up in Dombivli for allegedly saying “excuse me” instead of speaking in Marathi.

In another instance, workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) assaulted the Lonavala branch manager of the Maharashtra Bank for defending the use of Hindi in Mumbai’s Lonavala area. Similarly, a D-Mart employee, working in Versova, was allegedly slapped after he refused to speak in the local language with a customer.