Post by : Rameen Ariff

A viral video showing a clash on an Air India flight from Kolkata to Mumbai has sparked widespread outrage over linguistic intolerance in Maharashtra. Content creator Mahi Khan, known as MahiNergy, posted footage of a woman co-passenger threatening him for not speaking Marathi, demanding he speak the local language as he was traveling to Mumbai.

In the video, which has garnered over 95,000 likes and 9,000 comments within 24 hours, Khan calmly asks the woman if she expects him to speak Marathi. She insists, saying, "Yes, please do that. You are going to Mumbai, you should know Marathi." Khan replies, "No, I don’t speak Marathi."

The situation escalated when Khan sought help from cabin crew after the woman threatened him in front of them, saying, "Get down at Mumbai, I’ll show you what badtameezi (misbehaviour) is." The woman, seen wearing a Hyundai logo shirt, refused to identify herself.

Khan’s Instagram post reads, "Speak Marathi or leave Mumbai," highlighting the troubling mindset behind such intolerance. Many social media users condemned the woman’s behavior, calling it unrepresentative of Maharashtrian culture and demanding accountability from Air India and Hyundai, whose logo the woman wore.

This incident echoes other recent cases in Maharashtra involving language-based conflicts, including a heated seat dispute in a Mumbai local train earlier this year and an autorickshaw driver attacked for refusing to speak Marathi.

The viral clash has reignited debates on regional chauvinism and linguistic intolerance, with many calling for respect and harmony among diverse communities.

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