New Delhi: A political row has erupted over language imposition in Maharashtra as opposition parties slammed the BJP-led Mahayuti government for making Hindi a compulsory third language in primary schools in the state.The controversy erupted after the government, led by Devendra Fadnavis, on Wednesday (April 15) announced that Hindi would be a compulsory third language for students from Classes 1 to 5, starting the academic year 2025-26 as part of the phased implementation of the three-language formula of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.“We’re Hindus but not Hindi,” said Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray in a long post on X, challenging the decision and highlighting that Hindi is not the national language.“If you try to coat Maharashtra with a veneer of Hindi-isation, conflict in Maharashtra is inevitable. Is this an attempt to create a Marathi versus non-Marathi conflict in the upcoming elections to gain political advantage? Non-Marathi speakers in this state must also understand this ploy of the government. They do not have any special love for your language. They only want to provoke you to further their own political agenda,” he wrote.Meanwhile, MNS partyworkers also put up posters near the Shiv Sena Bhawan in Mumbai opposing the move, with the statement, “We’re Hindus but not Hindi!”Speaking to reporters, Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said, “It was written in the Constitution that it is the right of the state to put forward its mother tongue. They shouldn’t bring this (Hindi), it should be optional, not forced upon them. The Marathi language has its own importance. If Narendra Modi Ji and Amit Shah Ji speak in Hindi regularly, it is wrong to say everyone should. If they want to come to Maharashtra they should also learn Marathi… Former PM PV Narasimha Rao spoke 16 languages. Manmohan Singh knew 11 languages.”The Maharashtra government’s decision also comes at a time when the Supreme Court has advocated for linguistic diversity in the country during a judgement on the use of Urdu in the signboard of a municipality in Maharashtra. The apex court dismissed a petition challenging the Bombay high court’s judgment which allowed the use of Urdu on the signboard of the new building of the Municipal Council, Patur, in Akola district.The court also said that it was a “pitiable digression from reality” to believe that Hindi is the language of the Hindus and Urdu of the Muslims.For several years, there has been fierce resistance to the Narendra Modi governments’ and associated state government’s attempts to present Hindi as the de-facto national language. Recently, several Union government websites also started using Hindi web addresses.Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin has been vocally attacking the Modi government’s move to establish Hindi as the language of order. He has also alleged that Hindi has “swallowed many Indian languages”, including those which were earlier spoken in the Hindi heartland states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.Amid staunch opposition, the Union government has also threatened to stop funding Tamil Nadu under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan if it does not implement the three-language formula.