Mira Road, July 9 -- Tensions ran high in Mira Road on Tuesday as workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena (UBT) staged a massive protest march over the Marathi language issue, openly defying prohibitory orders and ignoring preventive arrests. The rally marked the first joint agitation by the two parties since the dramatic reunion of cousins Raj and Uddhav Thackeray.

At least a thousand political workers marched from Balaji Circle to Mira Road railway station between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm. The protest was triggered by outrage over an incident on June 30, where a local shopkeeper, Babulal Chowdhury-owner of Jodhpur Sweets-was allegedly assaulted by MNS workers for not speaking in Marathi.

Despite being denied police p...