‘Not a national language’: MNS’ Raj Thackeray criticises mandatory Hindi from Class 1 in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has come out against the state government's move to compulsorily have Hindi as the third language in English and Marathi-medium schools right from Class 1 as part of reforms related to the National Education Policy (NEP).

In a post on his X account, Thackeray condemned what he termed as “Hindisation” attempts by the central government and threatened an agitation if the decision isn’t rolled back. He also targeted NEP’s three-language policy, calling it a challenge to the language-based formation of states in the country. In this, he almost echoes the Tamil Nadu politicians who also oppose the three-language policy and see it as Hindi-imposition.

“Hindi is not a national language. It’s a mere state language, like other languages in the country. Keep your three language policy confined to the government work; don’t bring it to education,” he wrote, adding that the government is purposely trying to create a Marathi versus non-Marathi rift in the state for political gains,” he wrote.

NEP: ‘3-language formula’ from 2025

राज्य शालेय अभ्यासक्रम आराखडा २०२४ नुसार महाराष्ट्रात पहिलीपासूनच हिंदी ही भाषा अनिवार्य करण्यात आली आहे. मी स्वच्छ शब्दांत सांगतो की ही सक्ती महाराष्ट्र नवनिर्माण सेना खपवून घेणार नाही.

केंद्र सरकारचं सध्या जे सर्वत्र 'हिंदीकरण' करण्याचे प्रयत्न सुरू आहेत, ते या राज्यात आम्ही…

— Raj Thackeray (@RajThackeray) April 17, 2025

The plan to have Hindi as a mandatory third language was first promulgated in the State Curriculum Framework - School Education (SCF-SE) released last year. In a government resolution (GR) issued on Wednesday, which outlined the phase-wise roll-out of NEP in school education, the state reiterated the new language policy of teaching three languages from the first grade.

While English and Marathi-medium schools will have English, Marathi and Hindi as compulsory languages, in other schools, Hindi is replaced by the language which is the medium of instruction.

While the state schools do teach Hindi as a mandatory third language (fourth in case of schools other than English, Hindi and Marathi medium ones) under the SCF 2010 currently in force, it’s supposed to be introduced from Class 5. The state’s new language scheme even departs from the National Curriculum Framework - School Education (NCF-SE), which provides for adding the third language at the middle stage or Class 6.

Incidentally, Maharashtra’s newly-drafted SCF and curriculum for the foundational stage, which deals with the pre-school years and Classes 1 and 2, follows the national plan of teaching two languages during early years, specifying them as Marathi and English. There’s no mention of mandatory Hindi in these documents.

However, the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has defended the language education plan. "We insist that everyone in Maharashtra should speak Marathi. However, Hindi is a link language in the country. And hence, people should learn that too. But there's no prohibition on anyone learning English or any other language," he told mediapersons.