Raj Thackeray withdraws stir after accepting Bachchan's apology

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday said he has accepted Amitabh Bachchan's apology and added that he is withdrawing his party's agitation over Jaya Bachchan's alleged "anti-Marathi" remarks. (Watch)

Speaking to media, Raj Thackeray said: "We accept Big B's apology because he went public and we are withdrawing our agitation."

He further said that Jaya Bachchan should not speak on issues that she has no idea of, adding that, she should not speak impromptu and should stick to a script.

While apologizing for his wife Jaya's remarks that were deemed anti-Maharashtrian by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Bachchan said on Wednesday that his family is ready for any punishment if found guilty.

"I do not think we have said or done anything negative but we will leave it to the State," he said in a news conference in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists attacked a cinema hall in the city, where Bachchan starrer 'The Last Lear' was set to premiere, forcing authorities to call off the evening function.

Thackeray had on Monday announced boycott of films and products endorsed by any member of the Bachchan family -- Amitabh, Jaya, their son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai -- after Jaya said in a function that she would speak in Hindi as her family hailed from Uttar Pradesh.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena party workers in Mumbai tore down posters of Bachchan's "The Last Lear," an English-language film slated for release on Friday.

Jaya apologised for her remarks in an interview published in the Mumbai Mirror on Tuesday saying she did not mean to hurt anyone's feelings.

Bachchan clarified that remarks of his wife were very casual.

"None of what she said was done with any kind of fallacy, it was a merely very casual remark, as the event was not a very political event but film event. However, if there are people who feel that their sentiments have been hurt, then we take it upon ourselves to express regret for it. We had no intention of hurting anybody and we have apologized for it," he told reporters.

Last week, some Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists were arrested for vandalising shops in the city after owners failed to put up signboards in Marathi language.

Earlier this year, the party workers in Maharashtra were accused of intimidation, damaging vehicles and beating up taxi drivers, who were mostly migrants from neighboring states.

Less than 50 percent of Mumbai's 17 million residents are Maharashtrians. Many hail from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.