Pawar Sr supports march but ‘against forcing Tendulkar'
Kolhapur: While the NCP (SP) has declared support to the July 5 protest march against the "imposition of Hindi," the party's chief
on Friday said celebrities such as cricketer
should not be insisted upon to express their views on making Hindi a must in the Maharashtra school curriculum.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
"Ask Sachin about cricket; don't force him to take a stand on Hindi imposition," he said.
Pawar was responding to Raj Thackeray's statement on Thursday that he wanted to see who — especially Marathi artists and sportspersons — turn up and who do not for the protest march against the govt's policy.
"I don't know what Raj Thackeray meant by that. Why should one insist that Sachin Tendulkar puts his views across (on the issue of Hindi impoistion)? Ask him about cricket; he is 'badshah', a big name in the world of cricket. I can understand if he is asked to share his views about some aspect of cricket. Don't ask such personalities about issues not related to them. The issue of imposition of Hindi is important for us. Someone seeking their views and saying 'will see who comes for the protest and who does not' is not good," Pawar said.
On the march, NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil said, "We are against imposition of Hindi on primary school students. We have decided to participate in the protest march."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
44 minutes ago
- Time of India
20 years after split, Uddhav & Raj join hands to oppose ‘Hindi imposition' in schools
Mumbai: Uddhav and will hold a joint protest march of their parties in the city on July 5 against what they allege is imposition of Hindi in the state's schools from Class 1 through the new three-language policy. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now This will be the first time they will come together on a political platform after Raj Thackeray's decision to quit Shiv Sena to form MNS nearly two decades ago. There has been speculation of a reunion of the estranged cousins for the coming civic polls, and the protest march is being seen as the first step in that direction, reports Chaitanya Marpakwar. Uddhav and Raj had on Thursday announced two separate marches, on July 6 and 7 respectively. But according to Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, Raj dialled him Friday and said it would not be good to hold two marches for the Marathi language in this way and a joint movement could have a big impact. Raut said he then spoke to Uddhav, who agreed "without hesitation." Uddhav and Raj Thackeray's joint protest march against what they allege is imposition of Hindi in the state's schools will mostly be from Girgaum Chowpatty to Azad Maidan. Both parties have said it will be non-political and no party flags will be displayed. MNS functionary Sandeep Deshpande and Sena (UBT) MLA Varun Sardesai also met on Friday at a restaurant in Dadar (W), further fuelling speculation that the parties would come together not just for the protest but for BMC polls too. Aaditya Thackeray also met Deshpande at an event on Friday, where they greeted each other; Deshpande has fought the 2024 assembly polls against Aaditya from Worli and lost. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Marathi language expert Deepak Pawar, who had called for a protest on July 7, said Marathi language activists will join the July 5 protest and continue protests on July 7 if govt doesn't roll back its three-language policy. The opposition and several groups have criticized the state govt, alleging it is trying to impose Hindi as the third language, though the govt has said Hindi is not mandatory. After issuing a GR on June 17 on the third-language policy, govt took two steps back this week, first by saying it would have wide-ranging consultations before finalizing the policy and second by saying the third language would be taught via the play-way method, only orally, in Class 1 and 2, with no textbooks for students and no tests or exams. Raut said Raj initially told him he had no idea about the UBT Sena's march. When he discussed Raj's message of having one march with , Raut said that "he said he too was not in favour of a separate march but as July 6 is Ashadhi Ekadashi, it would be difficult to reach the people. I conveyed this to Raj Thackeray. After talking to Uddhav Thackeray, we suggested July 5 as the date. Raj Thackeray agreed to it after talking to his colleagues… This march will be without any political agenda. Through it, govt will see the strength of Marathi people." Deshpande said, "Raj Thackeray took the initiative and called Sanjay Raut and the date of the march was decided. We are inviting all parties, including Marathi-loving office-bearers of BJP and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena. It's a good thing the Thackerays are keeping aside political differences and coming together as Marathi manoos. They will decide if they will come together politically. For now, we are focusing on the march. The protest will change the political direction of Maharashtra. The protest is not Raj or Uddhav Thackeray's, it belongs to the Marathi manoos." Sardesai said there was dialogue between Sena (UBT) and MNS. "We are asking everyone to join the protest, so we met to plan the march," he said. MNS functionaries said they were reaching out to Congress, NCP and NCP (SP) netas along with other parties to invite them for the march. Meanwhile, reacting to education minister Dada Bhuse's comments that the third language would be taught via the play-way method, Aaditya Thackeray said on X, "The Education Minister should first go sit in a school and take such lessons! Forcing first-graders to learn three languages already, and that too without books, just oral practice. Are they running a govt or a comedy show? What are they saying, what are they deciding, just listen to yourselves for once. "
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Two-language formula disadvantage to state board students: SCERT director
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Rahul Rekhawar, the director of Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), on Friday said students from state board-run schools were at a disadvantage because of the two-language formula when compared with students from other boards. "Only two languages are taught in state board-run schools from Std I, whereas three languages are taught in all other medium schools of all boards. Thus, children studying in state board schools are at a disadvantage. Therefore, the students of Marathi- and English-medium state board schools have been provided the option of learning a third Indian language," an official release stated, quoting Rekhawar. He was addressing the state-level review meeting of the education department in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Rekhawar said the education machinery needed to gear up to adopt the proposed National Credit Framework for school education. "The credit system will be helpful for students in competing at higher levels of studies in their academic career," he said. The two-day review meeting, which was the first-of-its-kind high-profile event of the education department held in the city, was attended by top officials, including the principal secretary of the education department, Ranjit Singh Deol, and education commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh, among others. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo The meeting will discuss key initiatives, including developing an action plan for 'Vision 2024-27', upgrading the NEP tracker, introducing Period Assessment Tests, boosting enrolment in Adarsh and PM Shri schools, establishing Eco Clubs, and promoting addiction-free schools. Additionally, the agenda includes surprise school inspections, ensuring student safety, implementing accidental insurance for students, and taking action against unauthorized schools. Collective efforts needed to fulfil expectations of parents: Bhuse School education minister Dada Bhuse appealed to the education department officials to take collective efforts to fulfil the expectations of students and their parents. "We have made a rocking start to the new academic year by holding grand welcoming programmes across the state. It is now our duty to provide quality education and offer all facilities and amenities to students," he said. While Bhuse joined the review meeting only by night, the minister of state for school education, Pankaj Bhoyar, failed to turn up for the key event on the first day.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
As CM, Uddhav accepted report saying Hindi compulsory, says Fadnavis
MUMBAI: The BJP rushed to the defence of the state government over its decision to introduce Hindi as an optional language for Classes 1 to 5 after the Thackeray cousins announced their decision to hold a joint morcha against "imposition" of Hindi in state schools. CM Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said Marathi is compulsory, Hindi is optional. "Basically, students can learn any Indian language. We have accepted the three-language policy. When NE was introduced, the Uddhav Thackeray govt was in office. An 18-member committee was set up to study the policy, and in 2021 the Thackeray govt accepted it and further action was taken on it. In this report, it was clearly mentioned that along with Marathi, Hindi and English be made compulsory. Will you consider Mashelkar, Bhalchandra Mungekar, Sukhdev Thorat, who submitted this report, anti-Maharashtra? We allowed all languages," he said.
