Ramakant Biradar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, said, "Stores that do not have Marathi nameplates are fined Rs 5,000. Every three months, we conduct a drive in which around 100-150 defaulters are fined."
While Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists have gone on the rampage vandalising establishments that do not have nameplates and signboards in Marathi, the signboard of a salon situated just four buildings away from MNS chief Raj Thackeray's residence, Krishna Kunj, in Shivaji Park may be a glaring example of the party's double standards.
The salon spa, named 'Tangerine by Medha Manjrekar', carries an English nameplate and does not have one in Marathi.
While one may be tempted to ask how the MNS missed this one, the answer could lie in the fact that the salon is owned by Medha Manjrekar, wife of filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar who contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as an MNS candidate from the North-West constituency in Mumbai.
When DNA brought it to her attention, Medha said, "I will immediately put up a Marathi nameplate as well. I did not realise it earlier. Now that it's been brought to our notice, we will change it as soon as possible, probably by Sunday."
Reacting to DNA's queries, MNS said the norm that shops and stores should have Marathi nameplates applies to all, and without discrimination.
Sandeep Deshpande, senior MNS leader, said, "There is no exception."
"Everyone should follow this rule. We will be asking Medha to put up a nameplate in Marathi as well," Deshpande said.
As per data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's G-North ward office, every month, at least 60 cases are reported about signboards and display boards of establishments. Of this, over 20 pertain to absence of Marathi nameplates.
Ramakant Biradar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, said, "Stores that do not have Marathi nameplates are fined Rs 5,000. Every three months, we conduct a drive in which around 100-150 defaulters are fined."
Interestingly, it's not always the absence of Marathi that provokes MNS. In the last week of July, MNS workers vandalised a jewellery store in Prabhadevi and a hotel in Mahim, apparently annoyed by the sight of Gujarati, alongside Marathi and English, on their nameplates.
When DNA reached out to the store and hotel owners, either of them refused to comment on the vandalism. In a guarded response, the Dadar-based jewellery store manger said, "They (MNS activists) had requested us to remove the Gujarati nameplate and we agreed."
Evidently upset with "police inaction", the hotel owner said, "It's a closed matter now; we don't want further discussion on it. The police had watched the whole incident. They asked us to lodge a complaint, but did not take any action."
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