Mumbai: CM Fadnavis questions opposition to Hindi, and not English

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. File Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi (right) Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray. File Pic/Rane Ashish

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are at loggerheads in the Hindi language row. While the MNS chief has accused the government of ignoring Marathi, Fadnavis slammed the former for opposing one of India's languages - Hindi and not English. Hours after Thackeray warned the government to withdraw the three-language education format that makes Hindi technically compulsory for many in the state or face its wrath, Fadnavis hit back.

Speaking to the media, Fadnavis mentioned that he was unable to understand why a few people were opposing Hindi, but not English, despite Hindi being one of India's own languages. "I understand English is the language of communication. But, why oppose teaching a language native to our country to students?" the CM said.

Earlier in the day, speaking to media persons at his Dadar residence, MNS chief Raj Thackeray warned educational institutions against introducing Hindi as a subject. "I am writing a letter to the principal of all schools to not proceed with Hindi. If anyone does so, they will have to face the wrath of the party," Thackeray said and urged Marathi writers, poets, educators, intellectuals and Marathi-speaking people to oppose the government decision to implement a three-language formula which includes Hindi in the curriculum.

Thackeray questioned, "When Hindi was not made mandatory in Gujarat, a state Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah come from, why was there such a decision mandating Hindi in schools across Maharashtra?" In April, the Mahayuti government (BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar-headed NCP) had issued a government resolution (GR) that mandated Hindi in Std I to V across all schools in Maharashtra.

However, following stiff opposition from the Marathi study circle, Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), the school education minister clarified that Hindi would be optional and not compulsory. However, on June 17, the school education department issued another GR, which technically made Hindi a third language for many citizens. The latest GR stated that if anyone wanted to take a language other than Hindi, they could, but it would require a minimum of 20 students or else the education would be provided online.

As per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the state has moved from a two-language education format to a three-language format for Std I to Std V for schools in Maharashtra. Irked by the move, Raj Thackeray on Wednesday slammed the government over the decision and warned of a strong reaction. "If this is allowed, it is a sign of danger for Maharashtra and its people," Raj mentioned during the media interaction.

However, Fadnavis clarified that NEP has been framed after taking the opinion of experts across the nation, and it was not some arbitrary Central government decision. Further responding to allegations of step-motherly treatment to Marathi, Fadnavis made it clear that, whether it be any school board or educational institute, Marathi has been made a compulsory language.

"This means the government is encouraging Marathi," the CM added. Fadnavis claimed that one should refresh their memory and recollect that it is this government that had decided to impart education in engineering and other professional courses in the Marathi language. "This reflects how the government is committed to keeping Marathi important and relevant."