Maharashtra has a tradition of nationalism, and Maharashtra has produced leaders as humble servants of the nation. The poison of regionalism or linguism, just as it is making its appearance and is raising its ugly head elsewhere, made a somewhat ugly appearance in Maharashtra also. Certainly, we shall have to condemn it and make every effort to remove that poison. I would like to assure this House that the Maharashtra Government are quite aware of this thing. The Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister themselves have made statements about it, and they have assured me that they will take all the necessary action against all manifestations of it, whatever they are.
I was asked to unveil a statue of Shivaji at Shivaji Park in Bombay. It was a huge gathering of 3-4 lakh people. I made my first statement there condemning these activities and appealing to the people of Maharashtra not to take up this linguistic attitude in this particular matter. I am on record about it.
Even recently, when I was in Bombay, I held a press conference, and about what I said there was misrepresented in some papers in the south. There are certainly some problems for Maharashtrians in Bombay – of poor people. I am one of those who believe that whether it is a poor Tamil or a poor Telugu or a poor Kannadiga, or a poor Maratha, their problems are the same.
The agony and the pangs of unemployment are the same. There are certainly some economic grievances. At the same time, I would say that however justified the economic grievances may be, nobody has a right to take unlawful means in his hands to solve even those economic grievances. This is my approach to this matter. I would like to put on record a certain statement on this matter. Our Constitution accepts only one citizenship and all citizens have the fundamental right to reside and settle in any part of India. … to acquire, hold, and dispose of property anywhere and to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.
This fundamental right must be unreservedly respected both by the governments in the country and by the people. It is in the interest of the economic development of the country and of national integration that any citizen of India should feel free to go to any part of the country, seek employment or pursue any business or occupation of his choice.
He should have the confidence that while doing so, there will be no discrimination of any kind against him and that, in a very real sense, the principle of equality of opportunity would be respected. In the matter of public employment, equality of opportunity has been guaranteed by the Constitution itself, and this is a guarantee which we have been endeavouring, and will continue to endeavour, to have fully respected by all the public authorities in the country. In respect of the Central Government’s corporate public enterprises, we have been issuing instructions that there should be no discrimination against people who come to seek employment from other parts of the country or against the local people.
The only preference which our instructions provide is that at the lower levels of employment, special consideration should be shown to people who had been displaced by a project. I am sure the House will agree this is a sound and humane policy. Complaints are sometimes made of discrimination in the organised sectors of private employment.
This is not a matter in which anything can or should be done through legal regulation, but the wider interests of the country require, as indeed does the enlightened self-interest of the employers themselves, that here, too, the principle of equality of opportunity should be observed. People will have grievances. Sometimes they are justified, and sometimes they are not. Obviously, where there are any legitimate grievances, they should be redressed to the extent possible. But one thing is certain. Nobody has any right to seek redress of his grievances, genuine or otherwise, by unlawful means. There can be no justification whatever for creating hatred or ill will, for one section of the community to show any kind of antagonism to another.
If there is anything of this kind, it should be strongly condemned, and where legal action is possible, such action should be taken. Some weeks ago, I said categorically at a press conference in Bombay that any agitation directed against any particular linguistic group deserved to be condemned. I also described the attitude of the Shiv Sena as reactionary and harmful, and against the unity of the country. I take this opportunity to reaffirm those observations.
I have heard from the Maharashtra Government again recently, in which the assurances and the determination to take necessary action have been reaffirmed. I am confident that the Maharashtra Government will stand by their assurances and take whatever action is necessary to prevent any manifestation of parochialism.
Editor’s note: This is an edited excerpt from Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan’s 1967 address in the Lok Sabha. Read the full speech here.
This is part of ThePrint’s Great Speeches series. It features speeches and debates that shaped modern India.
The first, and still the tallest, CM of Maharashtra.