Mumbai/IBNS: Amid a row over "Hindi imposition" in the south, especially Tamil Nadu, the Maharashtra government has introduced Hindi as a compulsory third language for the primary section in Marathi and English-medium schools.

The Opposition Congress and  Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have raised strong objections to the state government's move.

In a post on X, MNS chief Raj Thackeray slammed the order as well as the Centre's three-language policy. 

Thackeray, whose party wants a "Marathi first" policy, had spoken out about the south's resistance against Hindi earlier too, saying Maharashtra should follow their example.

"We will not allow the central government's current efforts to 'Hindi-ify' everything, to succeed in this state. Hindi is not a national language. It is a state language like other languages in the country. Why should it be taught in Maharashtra from the very beginning?" he said.

"Whatever your trilingual formula is, limit it to government affairs, do not bring it to education. Linguistic regionalization was done in this country, and it lasted for so many years. But why have you just now started imposing the language of another region on Maharashtra? The very principle of linguistic regionalization is being undermined," the MNS chief said.

"We are Hindus but not Hindi! If you try to paint Maharashtra as Hindi, then there is bound to be a struggle in Maharashtra. If you look at all this, you will realize that the government is deliberately creating this struggle. Is this all an attempt to create a struggle between Marathi and non-Marathi in the upcoming elections and take advantage of it?" he asked.

Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar demanded that the state government immediately withdraw the notification on the introduction of Hindi as a compulsory third language.

"The mother tongue of Maharashtra is Marathi, but Marathi and English are used in education and administration. In such a situation, forcibly imposing Hindi as a third language is an injustice to Marathi and an attack on the identity of Marathi speakers," he said. 

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has defended the state's move and praised the Centre's language policy.

"If anyone wants to learn English, they can learn English. If anyone wants to learn any other language, there is no prohibition on anyone from learning other languages. Everyone should know Marathi. Also, other languages of our country should be known. The Central Government has thought about this. The Central Government thinks that there should be a language of communication in our country. This effort has been made," the Chief Minister said.

"Marathi is our primary language, but Hindi, being the national language, should also be respected. In Maharashtra, we will naturally speak Marathi, but Hindi should also be included in education," said state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

The opposition to Hindi in classrooms in the south is being spearheaded by Tamil Nadu, which has a two-language policy and is under pressure from Centre to introduce a third.