A legislator in the western Indian state of Maharashtra was attacked by four rivals inside the state assembly for taking an oath in Hindi.
The Samajwadi Party's Abu Azmi was hit by legislators from a regional party who wanted him to take the oath in the local language, Marathi.
The four assailants have been suspended from the assembly for four years.
There are 18 official languages in India, of which Hindi is one. Oaths may be taken in any of them.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena party has been campaigning for greater rights for the Marathi people of Maharashtra.
The party has been accused of several attacks on migrant workers in the past couple of years.
The MNS is led by Raj Thackeray - a nephew of Bal Thackeray, the founder of the right-wing Hindu Shiv Sena party.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8351749.stm