Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday strongly opposed the state government’s earlier decision to mandate Hindi as a compulsory language in Marathi and English-medium primary schools. However, after facing backlash, the state government has revised its decision, making Hindi an optional language, News18 reported.
During a press conference, Thackeray said this move was a direct threat to the Marathi language and its identity, the report added.
According to the report, the MNS chief claimed that a lobby of northern Indian IAS officers is advocating for Hindi to be imposed in Maharashtra’s education system. Thackeray said he had already sent two protest letters to the state government and underscored that Hindi is not the national language of India but rather the language of a specific region.
“We are not against Hindi, but we will not accept its imposition. If the government is trying to divide people based on language, then they must stop immediately. There is no such rule in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh or even Gujarat. In Gujarat, there is a government resolution that makes Gujarati and English compulsory from Class 1 – not Hindi. Then why this compulsion only in Maharashtra,” he was quoted by News18 as saying.
He also criticised the central government for its silence on the issue. “Even in the home states of Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah, Hindi is not made compulsory in schools. So why Maharashtra?” Thackeray also accused a group of IAS officers of being behind this move, claiming to have names of those involved, though he did not reveal them during the press conference, the report added.
Thackeray asserted that the government was attempting to implement the policy surreptitiously, without public consultation. As per the report, he also informed the media that he had written to all schools in Maharashtra, urging them not to teach Hindi from the first standard. Additionally, he mentioned that his party workers would visit schools to check which ones are teaching Hindi to first standard students.
“I recently spoke with MNS Chief Raj Thackeray, who opposes the three-language formula outlined by the NEP. To clarify, we have removed the requirement to make Hindi compulsory and allowed students to choose any Indian language if there are at least 20 students interested. Online classes will be available for these languages. This should be seen as an opportunity to learn Indian languages. Marathi will remain a compulsory language. Raj Thackeray is advocating for a two-language policy, but the NEP’s three-language policy is a National Policy,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was quoted by News18 as saying.
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