Those most vulnerable to the violence of the hooligan and the capriciousness of the state are inevitably the ones with the least social and economic protections, such as migrant workers. 3 min read May 2, 2026 06:45 AM IST First published on: May 2, 2026 at 06:45 AM IST Days after announcing its ill-conceived decision to make basic Marathi-language proficiency mandatory for all auto and taxi drivers from May 1, the Maharashtra government extended the deadline to August 15. The move is a minor concession, coming after auto and taxi unions objected to the arbitrariness of the announcement. It does little to undo the irrationality and constitutionally tenuous grounds of the original decision, which, if implemented, would see the licences of a large number of non-compliant drivers cancelled. At a time when public transport is plagued by more pressing issues such as affordability and accessibility, the easy resort to narrow linguistic politics is troubling.…