Speaking at a Mumbai Hindi Patrakar Sangh event, he stressed the value of native tongues. The remarks follow intense pushback from Raj Thackeray led MNS and Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena (UBT) over a proposal to introduce Hindi in primary schools.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis criticised anti-Hindi politics, warning it risks blocking cultural knowledge for future generations. Speaking at a Mumbai Hindi Patrakar Sangh event, he stressed the value of native tongues. The remarks follow intense pushback from Raj Thackeray led MNS and Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena (UBT) over a proposal to introduce Hindi in primary schools.
Addressing the Hindi Journalism Bicentenary Celebration organised by the Mumbai Hindi Patrakar Sangh at Ravindra Natya Mandir, Mr Fadnavis said that language cannot be a medium of conflict. He said that while political power and votes could be gained by creating disputes in the name of language, such conflicts would ultimately erode the country's knowledge.
“Those who are opposing the language, do not study the language and create controversies over it. Perhaps this may help some people secure votes, but it will diminish the country’s knowledge. Moreover, we will not be able to pass on this knowledge to future generations,” the Chief Minister said.
Mr. Fadnavis added that Hindi deserves respect because it played a significant role in India’s freedom struggle. “We must learn our mother tongue because abandoning it disconnects us from a very natural process of acquiring knowledge. At the same time, learning another Indian language enables us to access and absorb the knowledge of the country,” he said.
The Chief Minister also pointed out that countries which have achieved significant development have done so by imparting education in their mother tongues. “Developed nations impart education in their own languages, whereas many developing nations continue to impart education in the languages of countries that once ruled them. Nations that educate their people in their mother tongues are the ones that move forward,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, who also attended the event as a special guest, said there was no conflict between Hindi and other Indian languages. “Hindi will prosper only when regional languages prosper,” he said.
Mumbai BJP president and MLA Amit Satam said Hindi is a thread that binds the entire country together, but opposing the language has become fashionable for some people. “Some people’s children study French, German in school and colleges. But they seem to have an aversion to Hindi language. This is called a double standard,” said Mr. Satam, without taking names of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray.
MNS leader and corporator Yashwant Killedar took a dig at Amit Satam over his affection for the Hindi language. “It is unfortunate that, despite being a Maharashtrian, Amit Satam has been praising the Hindi language,” Mr. Killedar said.
