Mumbai, Jun 26 (PTI) Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Thursday said the BJP-led government in Maharashtra should not buckle under pressure from Uddhav and Raj Thackeray over the ongoing language row in the state.
Athawale was speaking to media after Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) announced separate protests on July 5 and 7 against the state government’s three-language policy in schools.
The state government last week issued an order, stating Hindi will generally be taught as the third language to students in Marathi and English medium schools from Classes 1 to 5.
The government maintained that Hindi would not be compulsory, but mandated consent of at least 20 students per grade in a school for studying any Indian language other than Hindi.
Athawale blamed the estranged cousins for politicising the language issue. He termed their opposition to Hindi as “unconstitutional” and urged the Maharashtra government not to bow to political pressure.
Like anyone else, the Thackerays also have a right to protest in a democracy, the minister said. “But Hindi is our national language. Opposing Hindi is like opposing the Constitution,” he added. PTI VT VT
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