Raj Thackeray's MNS ups the ante as NEP rollout triggers language row in Maharashtra

Mumbai: With a banner - “ami Hindu ahot…pan Hindi nahi” (we are Hindu….but not Hindi), the Raj Thackeray-led MNS launched a major campaign against the New Education Policy (NEP) which makes Hindi as a third language and will be mandatory for students in Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English schools of Maharashtra. 

While the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi slammed the Devendra Fadnavis-headed Maha Yuti dispensation over the implementation of NEP 2020 saying that it would dilute the importance of Marathi, the MNS has taken an aggressive stance with a group of workers also burning the copy of the government resolution (GR) issued by the Maharashtra government on NEP. 

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of the NCP, however, slammed the opposition parties saying that they are raking up unnecessary disputes because of lack of issues.

“Some people are creating disputes over the Hindi language only because they have nothing else to do. English is already widely used across the country, and similarly, Hindi is spoken in many Indian states. While there is an ongoing debate about whether Hindi is the rashtra bhasha… I do not wish to enter that argument,” Pawar said in Pune. 

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena too slammed the MNS.

“Marathi is respected in Maharashtra; neither we will compromise over it, nor we will allow it. However, if the government says that students from classes 1-5 will be taught English, Hindi and Marathi as per the New Education Policy, then it will increase the skills of those students. If the students learn Hindi, then they would be able to work anywhere in the country with a lot of confidence,” Shiv Sena deputy leader Sanjay Nirupam said. 

Pawar underlined the importance of promoting all three languages - Marathi, Hindi, and English, while asserting that Marathi would always hold primacy in Maharashtra. “Marathi must remain intact and continue to grow,” he said.

Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT)’s leader Sanjay Raut accused the government of doing politics. "Fadnavis wants to play language politics. Marathi is the state language here. First, make Marathi compulsory. Marathi language should be respected in employment, industry, and commerce,” said Raut.

Meanwhile, Raj Thackeray’s close aide and Mumbai MNS chief Sandeep Deshpande said: “Our country adopted the formula of linguistic regionalization after independence, and while doing so, it prioritized the languages of each state, and when this country has adopted a policy of not considering any one language as the national language of the country for so many decades, why is it now a matter of insisting on one country, one language?.” 

The development comes a day after Fadnavis said: “We have already implemented the NEP. Hence, no new decisions have been taken in this regard. It is our insistence that everyone in Maharashtra should know Marathi. Also, there should be a single language for communication across the country. Hindi is a language that can be a language for communication. Therefore, people should also learn Hindi, this is our effort.”