India, May 2 -- Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis says that while the state takes pride in Marathi, its native language, violence in the name of language is unacceptable. He said Maharashtra has never been "narrow-minded" about people migrating to the state and stressed that the government will encourage non-native residents to learn Marathi as it is the only way forward.

Fadnavis was speaking on Friday against the backdrop of the recent controversy on all taxi and autorickshaw drivers being required to have working knowledge of Marathi if they didn't already, before the state transport department walked back its directive.

"As far as language is concerned, one should be proud of one's mother tongue. We should all be proud of our mother ...