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Addressing separate press briefing, Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray announced a protest march against the policy on 7 July and 5 July respectively.
The dispute began after the state issued a revised order, stating that Hindi is “generally” taught as a third language (image: PTI/file)
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navneman Sena (MNS) vowed to protest that they attempted to impose Hindi on the state students, accusing the ruling BJP to implement the “language Emergency”, which endanger the cultural identity of “Marathi” and Maharashtra.
Addressing separate press briefing, Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray announced a protest march against the policy on 7 July and 5 July respectively.
Uddhav said, “The BJP is trying to create a division on the basis of language. This is a language emergency.”
The dispute began after the state issued a revised order that Hindi is taught as “generally” in Marathi and English medium schools as classes 1 to 5 to third language.
While the government clarified that Hindi is optional, if 20 students opt for any other Indian language, the opposition leaders slammed the move.
Raj Thackeray criticized the three -language formula, accusing the government of reducing the importance of Marathi. His party planned a protest march from Girgam Chaupatti, urging partnership with other political parties, artists and writers.
NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar supported Thackeray cousin, saying that Hindi should not be mandatory from class 1. “New languages should be introduced after class 5. It is wrong to burden young children,” he said that mother tongue should focus on elementary education.
Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwordan Sapkal also called the issue important for the identity and cultural heritage of the state.
However, the ruling BJP rejected criticism. Industry Minister Uday Samant said that this decision was Dr. Mashelkar stems from the committee’s report, which was approved under Uddhav’s own MVA government. Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Sheller reiterated that Marathi is mandatory, and Hindi is only an option among other Indian languages.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale defended the inclusion of Hindi, saying, “Hindi is our national language. Opposing it is like opposing the Constitution.” He urged the BJP -led government not to pressurize the Thackeray cousins.
Meanwhile, School Education Minister Dada Bhusa clarified that for classes 1 and 2, there would be no textbooks, only oral teaching through songs and pictures would aim to reduce the educational burden at the primary level.
Covering day-to-day national and international news in print and digital for the last nine years. Covering innumerable large and small programs associated with News18.com as the chief sub-editor since 2022, including …Read more
Covering day-to-day national and international news in print and digital for the last nine years. Covering innumerable large and small programs associated with News18.com as the chief sub-editor since 2022, including … Read more
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