Mumbai, Feb 27 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday alleged that the BJP wants to establish supremacy of the Hindi language and culture in the country.
Speaking at a party function to mark ‘Marathi Bhasha Gaurav Din’ (Marathi Language Pride Day) here, Thackeray claimed he fears that the BJP will also “kill” the national anthem because it has proud references of all regions of the country.
“The BJP’s policy is to kill regional languages, traditions and cultures as it wants to establish supremacy of Hindi,” said the former Maharashtra chief minister.
Thackeray claimed the BJP wants to finish off the Shiv Sena (UBT) because it knows that till the time this party exists, the `Marathi Manoos’ will stand tall with pride.
Maharashtra needs a regional party and that is Shiv Sena (UBT), he asserted.
Hitting out at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP, he said no language should be forced on people, a reference to the three-language formula for students of Class 1-5 and making Hindi “mandatory”. Last year, the government rolled back its two controversial orders related to it.
On Thursday, Fadnavis had blamed the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for accepting the Mashelkar Committee report which recommended making Hindi a mandatory subject from Class 1.
“Since it was approved by the cabinet, the lower rung of the bureaucracy issued the government resolution to this effect (making Hindi compulsory in primary schools) when we came to power,” the CM had said.
Replying to the claim, Thackeray admitted that his government had accepted the Mashelkar committee report. However, he said, another committee was formed to see whether it could be implemented or not, and before it could meet, his government was toppled.
It was his government which made the use of Marathi compulsory in Maharashtra, Thackeray added.
The steps taken by his government to promote Marathi culture were halted by the governments that followed, Thackeray said, adding that the Marathi Bhasha Bhavan is yet to be built.
How many times the BJP has hit the streets for the cause of Marathi and Marathi Manoos, he asked. PTI PR KRK
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