Maharashtra House: Oppn, Maha govt spar over dropping of Marathi song stanza

Ch Vidyasagar RaoA day after the goofup in translation during Governor Ch Vidyasagar Raos address to Maharashtra Legislature a similar glitch was witnessed today as the last stanza of Marathi Abhimaan Geet wasnt played evoking the oppositions ire The opposition members in the state Assembly accused the government of insulting the language on the occasion of Marathi Bhasha Gaurav Din which is observed every year on this day to commemorate the birth anniversary of late poet V V Shirwadkar also known as KusumagrajThe Marathi Abhimaan Geet written by noted lilteratuer Suresh Bhat was played in the Vidhan Bhawan premises today as part of the celebrations but its last stanza was dropped After a technical glitch led to the prerecorded songs last stanza not being played a performer present at the venue rushed to the microphone and completed the song As soon as the Lower House assembled for the day Speaker Haribhau Bagde moved a resolution to mark the day and sought that Marathi be made a language of knowledge and its development and preservation be expedited The resolution which also sought for setting up of an advisory council to draft a language policy was passed unanimously by the HouseHowever when the speaker called for the Question Hour NCP leader Ajit Pawar raised the issue of the faulty mikes during the Marathi Bhasha Gaurav Din celebrations earlier and the dropping of the last stanza of Marathi Abhimaan Geet Is this deliberate he asked It happened after yesterdays faux pas in the translation of the governors speech into Marathi he noted The translator had come yesterday during the Governors address but he was taken to the wrong place Pawar charged The opposition members then entered the well of the House and started shouting slogans Medha Kulkarni BJP said the Gaurav Geet song of praise has only six stanzas Just as few paras of Jana gana mana and Vande Mataram have been adopted as the national anthem and national song respectively only six stanzas of Bhats song have been adopted as the Marathi Gaurav Geet she saidChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asked the opposition not to politicise the issue as the delayed para referred to the sorry state of Marathi language Who was the chief minister when this song was written Whose government was in power when the language was suffering he asked Later Jayant Patil NCP said the condition of Marathi language highlighted in the last stanza of the song is relevant even today during the BJPSena rule Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil demanded an apology from the government for the mikes going off and dropping of the songs last stanza Amid the din the House was then adjourned for 15 minutes Later when the House reassembled the state education minister Vinod Tawde said the original poem features in Suresh Bhats book Roopgandha Tawde said it was Bhats wish that the last stanza be omitted from the Marathi Gaurav Geet So even in schools the children are taught only the first six stanzas he said Ajit Pawar then demanded that the Marathi language be made mandatory in schools till class 10 To this Tawde replied that at present the language is compulsory till class 8 We are working on whether it should be till class 10 or 12 he saidTawde said the sentiments of the Legislative Assembly will be conveyed to the school curriculum board Jayant Patil then sought to know about the demand for giving Marathi the status of a classical language At that time Tawde left the House to which the opposition members objected They entered the well and shouted slogans The Speaker then adjourned the House till the end of the Question Hour Earlier Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil leader of opposition in the Assembly told reporters outside the House that there were seven stanzas in the song but only the first six were performed Who gave you the permission to omit the last stanza and under what authority This is sheer negligence and callous approach of the state government to Marathi language he said The state had already shown its lack of seriousness in translation of the Governors speech yesterday and today it insulted the Marathi people again the Congress leader saidTawde said Bhat wrote the song when there was a movement going on for formation of states based on language Bhat added a stanza almost after 20 years but maintained that the original song be used as Marathi Abhimaan Geet So there is no question of deliberately omitting a particular stanza he addedCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever