‘Marathi top priority, Hindi spoken in many states’: Ajit Pawar slams those opposing mandatory Hindi move

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar slammed opposition to the Mahayuti government’s decision to make Hindi mandatory in schools. Pawar said Marathi will always remain top priority in the state.

Addressing on the sidelines of the inauguration of memorial dedicated to the Chapekar Brothers in Pimpri Chinchwad, Pawar said opposition is raking up such unnecessary problems due to lack of real issues. “Marathi is our mother tongue and will always have first preference in the state,” Pawar asserted.

“Some people are creating disputes over the Hindi language only because they have nothing else to do. English is widely used across the country, and similarly, Hindi is spoken in many states. While there is a dispute over whether Hindi is the Rashtra Bhasha', I don't want to get into that,” PTI reported quoting Pawar.

The Maharashtra government on Thursday announced its move to make Hindi a mandatory third language for primary classes in Marathi and English-medium schools across the state. The three-language formula for primary classes is a part of the new curriculum being implemented as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Pawar asserted that all three languages—Marathi, Hindi and English—are important, but, Marathi must remain intact and continue to grow, he said.

The opposition in Maharashtra including Congress and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have strongly opposed the imposition. The Congress has said the decision amounts to the imposition of Hindi. MNS leader Raj Thackeray said his party will not allow the Centre's efforts to “Hindi-fy everything”. Thackeray said, “We are Hindus, not Hindi.” Thackeray said his party will not tolerate this imposition and the trilingual formula should be restricted to government affairs.