Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Founder President Raj Thackeray announced here on Thursday that he will participate in a protest march from Girgaum Chowpatty on July 6, opposing the imposition of Hindi on Class 1 students in Maharashtra.
“This march will be by the Marathi people. This march will not have any leader. There will be no flags of any political party. July 6 falls on a Sunday. Sunday has been chosen so that a large number of Marathi people, including students and parents, can participate in this movement. We have communicated with all other political parties that wish to participate in this movement. I appeal to all Marathi lovers from all sections of society to participate in the march for Marathi on July 6,” Raj Thackeray said.
In a related development, the Tribhasha Sutra Anti-Third Language Coordination Committee, formed by the Marathi Study Centre, will also organise another march at Azad Maidan on July 7, in which Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will participate. The march will begin by paying homage at the Hutatma Chowk memorial to martyrs of the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement, which had fought for the formation of Maharashtra as a state. On June 29, the Tribhasha Sutra Anti-Third Language Coordination Committee will also organise a public meeting at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh hall, near Azad Maidan, which is likely to be attended by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.
The Hindi language imposition issue flared up since April, after the Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government issued a notification that Hindi will be taught mandatorily to students in Maharashtra from Class 1 as a third language, triggering off strong opposition by the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, and the Raj Thackeray-led MNS.
Earlier on Thursday morning, Maharashtra’s Minister for School Education Dada Bhuse visited Raj Thackeray’s ‘Shivirth’ residence in Dadar West in an attempt to convince him of the need to teach Hindi to students in Maharashtra from Class 1. Education department officials were present at this meeting, which lasted about an hour. After this meeting, MNS President Raj Thackeray addressed a press conference and announced a protest march on July 6.
“We do not accept the compulsory imposition of Hindi language from the first grade under any circumstances. Education Minister Dada Bhuse presented his position, but I rejected it. Bhuse was not able to answer questions that I raised about the government’s policy,” Raj Thackeray said.
Meanwhile, there are indications that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is all set to raise the issue of Hindi language imposition in Maharashtra, along with concerns over the three-language formula under the New Education Policy (NEP), during the forthcoming monsoon session of the Maharashtra assembly, which begins on Monday, June 30.
The monsoon session is crucial due to the scheduled elections to local civic bodies and municipalities in Maharashtra. Elections will soon be announced to all 29 municipal corporations, 257 municipal councils, 26 zilla parishads, 289 panchayat samitis, which account for more than 60 per cent of Maharashtra’s population spread across the five geographical regions, namely Konkan, Western Maharashtra, North Maharashtra, Marathwada, and Vidarbha.
The monsoon session is expected to be stormy due to the suicides of farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. The Mahayuti government is also expected to table the contentious Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill 2024, popularly known as the Jan Suraksha Bill, during the monsoon session.