India, July 6 -- Amid the ongoing language row in Maharashtra, state minister Ashish Shelar drew a parallel with the gruesome April 22 terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam, in which 26 people were killed, with the recent attacks on people who could not speak Marathi in the state.

Ashish Shelar said that while in Pahalgam, people were killed on the basis of their religion, in Maharashtra, people were being attacked over linguistic differences, which he called disappointing, reported PTI.

He added that the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in power in the state, would safeguard the Marathi pride while also protecting non-Marathi residents of the state.

"Marathi is not a political issue for us," PTI quoted him as saying.

"In the Pahalgam t...