'Not against Hindi, just its compulsion in schools': Sanjay Raut distances from Stalin's 'support'; clarifies Maharashtra's stand on language row
Sanjay Raut
on Sunday sought to draw a clear line between Maharashtra's opposition to the Centre's language policy and Tamil Nadu's more hardline stance, a day after
MK Stalin
's supportive tweet over Thackerays' joint victory event.
Raut said that while Tamil Nadu rejects Hindi entirely, Maharashtra's protest is specifically against imposition of Hindi as a third language in primary schools, and not the language itself.
"Our fight is not against Hindi, but against forcing it in schools," Raut told reporters in Mumbai.
"The southern states have opposed Hindi imposition for years. Their stand is: they won't speak Hindi and won't let others speak it either.
That's not our position in Maharashtra," he said. "We speak Hindi. Our stand is that mandatory Hindi in primary education is unacceptable," Raut said.
Raut added: "MK Stalin has congratulated us on our win and said he'll learn from this. We wish him well. But we've never stopped anyone from speaking Hindi. We have Hindi films, theatre, and music here. Our issue is only with Hindi being forced in primary classes."
Clarifying his personal relationship with the language, Raut said: "I speak in Hindi, I read and think in Hindi.
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Our fight was only against introducing Hindi as a third language from Class 1 in state schools."
His remarks follow the June 29 rollback of a controversial Government Resolution (GR) issued on April 16, which had made Hindi compulsory as a third language from Classes 1 to 5 in English and Marathi medium schools. The move triggered sharp opposition from both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), who called it an indirect attempt to impose Hindi.
The withdrawal of the GR was celebrated during the recent joint "Awaz Marathicha" rally addressed by Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray. At the rally, Raj urged schools to disregard the resolution, calling it "anti-Maharashtra activity," while Uddhav likened it to "the Emergency."
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, a longstanding critic of the Centre's three-language formula under the National Education Policy (NEP), had praised the Maharashtra protest.
In a post on X, Stalin said: "The BJP, which unlawfully declares that funds will be withheld unless Hindi is taught as a third language in Tamil Nadu's schools, has been forced to retreat for the second time in Maharashtra, where it governs, fearing a people's uprising."
He also questioned the Centre's consistency: "What is the third language taught in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan?' He accused the Union government of withholding Rs 2,152 crore under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan due to Tamil Nadu's non-compliance with the NEP's language policy.
"Tamil Nadu will fight! Tamil Nadu will win!" he said, urging voters to "teach the BJP and its allies a lesson they will never forget."
In the wake of the controversy, the Maharashtra government has set up a committee chaired by educationist Dr Narendra Jadhav to review the state's language policy in schools. The panel has been given three months to submit its recommendations.
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