Raj Thackeray warns of struggle in three-language policy in State
Raj Thackeray warns of struggle in three-language policy in State
MNS Chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday slammed the state government for making Hindi compulsory from Class 1 and said his party will not tolerate this coercion at all. Adding if they try to make Hindi compulsory in Maharashtra, there will be a struggle in the state. Taking to X, Raj Thackeray wrote “as per the State School Curriculum Plan 2024, Hindi language has been made compulsory in Maharashtra from the first grade onwards. He wants to say in clear words that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will never tolerate this coercion at all. Adding that they will not allow the efforts of the Central government to ‘Hindi-nize’ the entire country to succeed in Maharashtra. Hindi is not a national language. It is a state language like other languages of the country. Then why should it be taught from the first class in Maharashtra? The three-language formula should be limited to government functions only, don’t try to impose it on the education sector.
In this country, states were formed on the basis of language, and this system continued for many years. So why has suddenly started the process of imposing the language of another state on Maharashtra? This is a violation of the principles of state structure formed on linguistic basis.”
He further stated that every language is beautiful in itself and has a long history, tradition behind its creation and added that the language should be respected in the state to which it belongs.
Further added that “just as the Marathi language in Maharashtra should be respected by all local people, similarly in other states, the language should be respected. Even if a Marathi person lives in another state, he should also adopt the language of that state – this is our insistence. But if you try to weaken the linguistic tradition of the country, then this is not acceptable to us.
Raj Thackeray continued that if they try to make Hindi compulsory in Maharashtra, struggle will be inevitable and it is clear that the government is deliberately creating this conflict. He questioned “,is this an attempt to gain political mileage by pitting Marathi versus non-Marathi in the upcoming elections? The non-Marathi speakers of the state should also understand this move by the government. The government has no special love for your language, they want to incite you to do their politics.
The MNS chief went on to say that the economic condition of the state is pathetic today and the government does not have money for the schemes. “Youngsters of the state are looking for jobs. Before the election, the government had promised a loan waiver, but it was not fulfilled. Farmers are disappointed with this.
And now the industry is also moving away from Maharashtra. When the government has nothing to show for it, the British policy of “divide and rule” is adopted – and that is what the government is doing today,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the Maharashtra government announced that Hindi will be introduced as a compulsory third language for students from Classes 1 to 5 starting from the 2025–26 academic session. The decision was made public through a Government Resolution (GR) issued by the school education department on Wednesday.
News Edit KV Raman
