ACTOR Jaya Bachchan on Monday apologised for her remark on the Hindi language, but that has not satisfied Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Now the party wants her to apologise in front of the media. Jaya Bachchan's apology was published only in a popular English tabloid in the city. In her statement, she pleaded innocent, saying she was sorry if she had inadvertently hurt the sentiments of the Marathi people. However, the MNS has spurned the apology. It now wants the veteran actor to do a Take 2 in front of the Marathi and electronic media. How many people read that daily? When she wanted to insult Marathi people, she had all the media and when she apologised, she had only one newspaper?” said spokesperson Shishir Shinde K.L. Prasad, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Mumbai, blamed the issue on profusion of reportage. In fact, he held that there was “no issue at all.” “I have a complaint against the media. You people make heroes out of zeroes. I would say, just neglect him [Raj Thackeray]. He will get asphyxia. Channels are constantly repeating the footage. One incident is shown 74 times. This is clearly [a way of] reinforcing it in the mind. You have to look at whether the general law and order is disturbed, like in Jammu and Kashmir or Pakistan,” he said. The Shiv Sena, which was equally critical of Ms. Bachchan's remark, was not on the offensive anymore. “We never demanded an apology, we only expressed what we felt and now we do not have any stand,” said Sanjay Raut, Sena spokesperson. At the promo of the film ‘Drona' here on Saturday, Ms. Bachchan reportedly said: “Hum U.P. ke log hai, hume Hindi mein baat karni chahiye.” (We are from Uttar Pradesh and should speak in Hindi). This remark incensed the MNS and the Shiv Sena.
