Strikes and Silence

A missile meant for one man instead killed 10 people – six of them children – waiting in line to fill water containers.

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The recent uproar in Maharashtra over the mandatory inclusion of Hindi as a third language in state-run primary schools has revealed more than just pedagogical discontent. It has exposed deep-seated anxieties about identity, culture, and the long-standing tension between regional autonomy and central authority.

In a state where language is not merely a medium of instruction but a cornerstone of selfhood, the controversy has acted as a spark in a room full of dry kindling. At the heart of the storm is a decision by the state government to implement the Union government's three-language policy in primary education – introducing Hindi alongside Marathi and English.

While the move was positioned as a matter of compliance with the National Education Policy, it was immediately perceived by many in Maharashtra as an encroachment on their linguistic space. The swift and visceral reaction was not surprising. Language here is more than a tool of communication; it is a symbol of cultural continuity and political identity forged over decades of linguistic assertion.

This is not the first time Maharashtra has wrestled with such issues. The state's political history is intimately tied to the assertion of Marathi identity – dating back to the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines and the rise of nativist politics in the 1960s. Mumbai, in particular, has long served as both the economic magnet for migrants and the ideological battleground for those seeking to preserve Marathi hegemony in public life.