Early on Monday morning, traffic police issued fines to taxis parked at the stand on Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Road near Jagannath Kulkarni Chowk

Drivers approached the authorities to contest the challans. What began as a routine parking dispute was later twisted on social media into claims of a taxi strike over the Marathi language requirement

A rumour of taxi drivers protesting the Marathi language rule spread rapidly online, sparking a fresh language controversy in Mumbai

Vehicles parked at the taxi stand had been fined in the early hours, and the drivers had only gone to the police to raise the issue of the penalties

The parked vehicles at the stand near Jagannath Kulkarni Chowk had drawn the challans, but social media quickly linked the incident to a non-existent strike over language

The incident at the taxi stand near Jagannath Kulkarni Chowk had nothing to do with language politics. Drivers simply objected to challans slapped on their parked vehicles in the early hours. Online claims of a Marathi language protest and a taxi strike proved to be false.