Maharashtra’s Language Policy: Fadnavis vs Thackeray

Devendra Fadnavis Criticizes Uddhav Thackeray

Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra’s Chief Minister, recently criticized Uddhav Thackeray. He used the term “palturam” during a media address. This happened after the government decided to reverse the three-language policy.

Government’s Stance on Language Policy

Fadnavis clearly stated that the BJP-led government supports all languages. He made two key points:

• We support Hindi.
• We back every language in our country.

Fadnavis also pointed out that Thackeray’s government had made Hindi mandatory. This decision was based on the Raghunath Mashelkar Committee’s advice.

Recent Government Actions

The Maharashtra government has taken several steps:

• They withdrew two orders on the three-language policy for young students.
• They formed a committee led by Dr. Narendra Jadhav to review the language policy.
• They gave the committee three months to study the issue and prepare a report.

At first, the government had made Hindi compulsory for young students. However, due to public outcry, they later made it optional.

Uddhav Thackeray’s Response

Uddhav Thackeray stated that the attempt to impose Hindi on “Marathi Manoos” has failed. He accused the Fadnavis government of trying to create a divide between Marathis and non-Marathis.

Thackeray also questioned why the government was pushing Hindi so hard. He wondered where this pressure was coming from.