Row over language turns violent in India’s richest state

For weeks, it was a battle about language and identity raging in the richest state in India, Maharashtra.

The class began in April after the Mawarashra government made for compulsory primary schools to teach Indian as a third language, regardless of the English and marathgic language (the dominant language in the state). He said this was in line with a federal policy that imposes children’s education three languages ​​in school.

The National Education Policy (NEP), which was presented in 1968, aims to enhance education and organize it in India and government updates sometimes. The recent repetition of the policy, which was presented by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi five years ago, is being implemented in stages Controversy previously.

The decision of the state of Maharashtra, fierce opposition from civil society groups, language activists and opposition leaders who accused it of trying to impose India – mostly in the states of northern and central India – in the state.

The language is a sensitive issue in India where many states have been formed, including Maharashtra, on linguistic lines after independence. Local language is often fundamentally associated with pride and regional identity, and any change in the current situation can be considered a threat. For example, last year, linguistic activists held in Al -Kanada in Bangaluru, and they are often called Silicon Valley in India, protests demanding this Advertising boards are written in the local language And not only the English language.

But discomfort is especially high when it comes to Indian, the most expensive language in India. Over the years, the steps of the various federal governments to enhance Indian have fueled concerns about non -Hindi lines that local culture will be diluted. These concerns have been exacerbated by the high migration from the least developed Hindi -speaking countries to other parts of India, especially the south, in search of jobs.

Abhay Disabandi, a political analyst, says that these concerns have increased after the Hindu National Garata Party has arrived in power in 2014.

With the high tensions in Maharashtra state, the state government-which is governed by an alliance led by the Bharatiya Jatata Party-canceled its decision and appointed a committee to re-examine the three language policy. But the controversy refuses to die.

This class comes months before municipal polls, which are scheduled to be held in the state, including in Mumbai, the home of the richest municipal company in India. The political game Slugfest has ignited the ruling coalition and the opposition parties, as each side accuses the playing of political games.

There were also reports of violence against non -marewitting speakers in the country.

In April, two women are in the Thin area It was claimed that it was attacked In their residential complex after they said “Sorry” to a man who insisted that they were talking to him in the marathi.

In the same month, it was claimed that a security guard in Mumbai was beaten by the workers from the opposition, MNS – a Natvi party known for its aggressive trademark of politics – after he said he did not know the marathi.

In May, a couple in Mumbai According to the refusal of the payment Delivery agent after refusing to speak in Al -Marathi. Last week, a horrific video clip was being attacked by the owner of a store that was attacked, and the mns workers claim, because the Marathi virus did not talk to social media, which sparked anger.

Although the issue has increased social divisions, it also gathered almost two political competitors after two decades after they were separated from ways.

Last week, Idahaf Thakirai, head of the local opposition Party, Chef Sina (UBT) and Raj Thakirai, the leader of MNS – the son and his nephew, respectively, from Bal Thackeray, Patriarch in a joint policy, a Hindu national party that gives up the popularity of Maharashtra in 1960. I was imposed.

Although the armistice force still must be seen, experts say optics for the cousins ​​who put differences aside in “Marathi’s pride” can help their horizons in the upcoming municipal elections.

“The issue of maladic language and culture is close to the hearts of peoples,” says Brashant Dixett, a former political journalist who has informed the state for more than two decades. “It is an emotional issue, especially for people who live in Mumbai, and it has been so since the 1960s.”

In the sixties and seventies of the last century, Chef Sina, under the leadership of Pal Thacirai, conducted aggressive campaigns against people who migrated to Mumbai from the southern states, accusing them of jobs that should have gone to the local population.

In decades that followed, migration patterns changed and the party turned into people from the northern states who were migrating to the city in search of economic opportunities. The party blamed immigrants from states such as the state of Uttar Pradesh and Bayhar for the transfer of jobs.

These tensions seem ready to follow. According to the recent census data in India, there was a 40 % increase in the population of the Indian speaking city between 2001 and 2011.

These incitement, which is echoed by the marathite with the voters, has echoed, especially in Mumbai, and some believe that it can help the sons of Thakairay in the municipal elections as well.

However, many criticized this approach.

An opening article in the Indian Express entitled “Slap in Mumbai’s Face” that the policy that focused on the linguistic identity was “deeply worried” and that its narrow has led to violence, which “should not have a place in the case of the most industrial India.”

Mr. Dixite agrees – he believes that any support that has aggressive language is likely to be short -term.

He says: “People want their leaders to fulfill their promises and focus on real progress, in the form of better functions and policies, so that life is better for everyone.”