The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has taken an aggressive stance against the government's decision to make Hindi a compulsory subject from the first grade in schools. In strong opposition to this move, MNS chief Raj Thackeray had earlier announced a massive protest march on July 6. However, the date of this march has now been changed. A statement released by Raj Thackeray provides details of the revised schedule. Originally planned for July 6, the march will now take place a day earlier — on Saturday, July 5, at 10 AM. The venue and all other details of the march remain unchanged. Raj Thackeray urged the media and the public to take note of this new date through an official statement shared on his social media accounts."Warm greetings, Jai Maharashtra. This morning, we announced a protest march for the sake of our Marathi language, Maharashtra, and the Marathi people, scheduled for July 6. There is a slight change — instead of Sunday, July 6, the march will now be held on Saturday, July 5, at 10 AM. All other details and the venue remain the same. We request the media and the people of Maharashtra to take note of this change. Yours sincerely, Raj Thackeray, wrote MNS Chief on X.
The MNS argues that making Hindi compulsory from the first grade poses a threat to the existence and importance of the Marathi language. The party is now preparing to take to the streets, with this protest march led by Raj Thackeray directly challenging the government's decision. The controversy erupted after the government, led by Devendra Fadnavis, on (April 15) announced that Hindi would be a compulsory third language for students from Classes 1 to 5, starting the academic year 2025-26 as part of the phased implementation of the three-language formula of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
“We’re Hindus but not Hindi,” said Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray in a long post on X, challenging the decision and highlighting that Hindi is not the national language.“If you try to coat Maharashtra with a veneer of Hindi-isation, conflict in Maharashtra is inevitable. Is this an attempt to create a Marathi versus non-Marathi conflict in the upcoming elections to gain political advantage? Non-Marathi speakers in this state must also understand this ploy of the government. They do not have any special love for your language. They only want to provoke you to further their own political agenda,” he wrote.