Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray said while Hindi may be spoken widely, it is not a national language to be imposed on other states, and attempts to place it above Marathi, which is an older language, will not be tolerated.

Amid growing protests against the introduction of Hindi language from Class 1 to Class 5 in Maharashtra schools, the state government on Sunday revoked the government order on 'three-language' policy. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the government order has been withdrawn and also announced the formation of a committee headed by educationist Narendra Jadhav to implement the language policy and suggest the way forward.

Speaking to reporters, MNS Chief said, ‘Hindi is not the rashtra bhasha (national language) to be imposed on other states. This kind of coercion is not right’. He said, ‘People are trying to make the 150 to 200-year-old Hindi language appear superior to Marathi, which has a history of over 3,000 years. This is unacceptable, and I will not allow it’. He also questioned the legitimacy of branding Hindi as a national language in a country with such linguistic diversity.

The MNS and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) have been at the forefront of opposing the ‘imposition of Hindi’ as a third language for primary classes in schools.