NEP 2020: Students must not be forced to learn Hindi, says Raj Thackeray on Maharashtra govt's three-language policy

Raj Thackeray reiterated that Hindi is not the national language and every state has its own mother tongue. File pic

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has raised strong objections to the decision to make Hindi a compulsory subject for students from Class 1 in schools across Maharashtra.

Thackeray's statement comes a day after the state government approved the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, introducing Hindi as a mandatory third language for students from Class 1 to Class 5 in Marathi and English-medium schools.

The MNS chief reiterated that Hindi is not the national language and every state has its own mother tongue, and Hindi is just one of them.

"Use of Marathi, Hindi and English (three languages) should be limited to government and official work. Hindi cannot be made mandatory and one cannot and should not force students to learn it. MNS strongly opposes any such policy and will not tolerate the same," Raj Thackeray warned through a post on social media platform X.

Raj Thackeray, the estranged nephew of late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, further mentioned, "We are Hindu, not Hindi. Hence, I request the government to keep this in mind before taking the decision ahead for implementation."

According to the Government Resolution (GR) issued by the state, the new policy replaces the existing two-language model by making Hindi a mandatory third language as part of the revised curriculum under NEP 2020.