Is Uddhav Thackeray Opposed to Hindi or Just Against Linguistic Emergency?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Uddhav Thackeray strongly opposes the imposition of Hindi in Maharashtra schools.
- He emphasizes the need to protect the Marathi language.
- Thackeray took symbolic action by burning the government resolution.
- He criticizes the BJP for dividing communities.
- Thackeray plans to join a protest on July 5.
Mumbai, June 29 (NationPress) The Shiv Sena-UBT leader and former chief minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, took a strong stand against the MahaYuti government on Sunday. He declared that the enforcement of Hindi alongside Marathi and English in schools for grades 1 and 5 will not be tolerated in Maharashtra.
“If there were any opposition to Hindi, Hindi cinema wouldn’t have flourished in Mumbai and Maharashtra. There’s no necessity for Hindi to be imposed... a single direction, a single statement, a single leader... this is a step towards totalitarianism. We will resist this linguistic emergency, and it is the right moment for those who have strayed from Shiv Sena to uphold Balasaheb’s vision in Marathi,” said Thackeray.
Accompanied by party members including Aaditya Thackeray and MP Arvind Sawant, he symbolically burned the government’s resolution regarding the introduction of Hindi as a third language.
Thackeray later participated in a meeting organized by the Tribhasha Sutra (Three Language Formula) Anti-Mumbai Coordination Committee.
“We do not wish to exert pressure; in fact, we reject the imposition of Hindi. If they are going to enforce something, we have put an end to this matter on our part. We burned the government resolution, thus eliminating any credibility to the claim that there is a government resolution on the Hindi policy. I have consistently said that while we are not against Hindi, we will not permit its imposition,” Thackeray stated, hinting at his intention to join the July 5 protest organized by his estranged brother, Raj Thackeray, to oppose the imposition of Hindi and assert the significance of the Marathi language.
Thackeray further commented: “The Chief Minister could easily announce in five minutes that Hindi will not be made compulsory in the state. However, it appears that the BJP’s strategy is to cause division. He is sowing discord among the Marathi and non-Marathi communities.”
“No means no... no presentation… veteran RSS leader Bhaiyya Joshi remarked that the language of Ghatkopar is Gujarati. Our nation is a federal entity, yet our structure has become linguistic,” he noted.
He urged Marathi language enthusiasts within the BJP to join the fight against the imposition of Hindi, reaffirming that Hindi will not be enforced.