13 hours ago
Thackeray reunion over 'Hindi imposition', Uddhav, Raj to lead joint protest in Mumbai
In a major sign of reconciliation between the estranged cousins, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have announced that they will hold a joint march in Mumbai on July 5—rather than separate ones as earlier planned—to protest what they call the imposition of Hindi in the Uddhav and Raj will lead the protest from Girgaon Chowpatty to Azad Maidan, according to move comes amid the Devendra Fadnavis government's decision to introduce Hindi as an optional third language from Classes 1 to 5.
Earlier, both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena slammed Fadnavis's move, calling it an imposition of a "language emergency" and an attempt to erase "Marathi-ness."Alleging that the BJP is trying to impose "language emergency," Uddhav Thackeray clarified that he was only against the imposition of Hindi in a Marathi-speaking state, and not the language."The BJP is trying to create a divide among people on the basis of language. It is imposing a language emergency," the former Chief Minister further stated that Chief Minister Fadnavis can put a rest to all confusion around language imposition by declaring that Hindi will not be made compulsory in state on the controversy, CM Fadnavis made it clear that Hindi is optional while Marathi is row erupted after the state government last week issued an amended order stating Hindi will "generally" be taught as the third language to students in Marathi and English medium schools from Classes 1 to per the order, if 20 students per grade in a school wish to study any other Indian language, they can opt out of Hindi. If such a demand arises, either a teacher will be appointed or the language will be taught online.- EndsInputs from PTI
