The Hindu : National : None is above the law: Deshmukh

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Wednesday, Sep 10, 2008
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None is above the law: Deshmukh

Meena Menon

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Home Minister R.R. Patil have said that those who take the law into their hands will be severely dealt with.

Referring to the fresh controversy involving Raj Thackeray and Jaya Bachchan, Mr. Deshmukh, while speaking to reporters in Latur on Monday, said he did not think Ms. Bachchan’s statement was against the Marathi people. It was perfectly all right to speak in Hindi, which was the national language, he pointed out. He said the government would hold an inquiry against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray’s statements. No one was above the law.

Mr. Patil said that since Ms. Bachchan had reportedly apologised, the matter must be treated as closed. No one should use religion, caste or language to create divisions in society and destroy peace at a time when the city was observing Ramzan and Ganesh Chaturthi. There is no need to issue threats over the issue of language or use language to create discord between people, he said.

Referring to the letter Mr. Thackeray had written to the police and shop keepers in which he had issued threats and asked the police not to take action against MNS workers destroying non-Marathi signboards, he said the law and judiciary department would complete the probe by next week.

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