Speaking to reporters, Chavan said that he has given orders to police to initiate stern action against the MNS workers who had gone berserk and caused damage to several multiplexes which were not screening Marathi movies.
"The MNS workers had taken the law into their hands and this would not be tolerated at any cost. Those who break law would be dealt with sternly," Chavan warned.
The MNS workers who had gone on rampage in protest against the multiplexes for refusing to screen Marathi movies, stone pelted the multiplexes in Dadar, Bandra, Kandivili and other suburbs. The MNS workers also led violent protest in neighboring Thane district. Most of the shopping malls also faced the ire of the MNS rioters and suffered damages.
A senior leader of the MNS warned that as far as the multiplexes do not screen Marathi movies, the MNS will continue "action" against them. "We will see how they defy our warnings and refuse to screen the regional movies," the leader said.
The MNS violent protest was a follow up to the warning issued by MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday during a speech to mark the third foundation day of the party. In his speech, Raj said, "The multiplexes should start screening Marathi movies from Wednesday or else they should be prepared to get slapped on their ears which will make a sound of a blast, which will shake the owners of the multiplexes."
Raj had further said, "Give me the list of multiplexes where Marathi movies are not screened and start the agitation against these multiplexes from tomorrow. From tomorrow, it is made mandatory for every multiplex to screen Marathi films. Even when this is compulsory under the laws to screen the regional films, some owners of the multiplexes are violating the law. They do not understand the other language, therefore we will take care of these violators of law," he added.
