Mumbai, Apr 19 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday asserted that his party will not allow making Hindi compulsory in Maharashtra after the state government decided to make Hindi a mandatory third language for students of classes 1 to 5.

Addressing an event of the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, the workers’ wing of the Shiv Sena (UBT), Thackeray said his party has no aversion to the Hindi language but asked why it is being forced.

Thackeray claimed it is the ruling BJP’s mission not to let people unite and to keep them under constant pressure so that they are occupied with their worries.

“We will not allow making Hindi compulsory in Maharashtra,” he said.

His remarks come amid the opposition’s outcry over the Maharashtra government’s decision to make Hindi a mandatory third language for students of Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English-medium schools across the state, in a departure from the practice of studying two languages.

He said, “We will do everything if you ask (us) with affection, but if you impose anything, we will oppose it. Why this force for (learning) Hindi?” The former chief minister pointed out that it was his government that decided to make learning Marathi in the state compulsory.

“You have to say Jai Maharashtra if you want to live in the state,” Thackeray added.

Targeting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti, he asked if the state government was working for those who want to finish off Maharashtra and Marathi.

He further slammed Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, saying how his party can be subservient to those doing injustice to Marathi and then claim to be the inheritors of Bal Thackeray’s legacy.

Referring to senior RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi’s remarks earlier that any individual coming to Mumbai may not necessarily learn Marathi, the Sena (UBT) chief said Marathi should be made compulsory in Ghatkopar, a predominantly Gujarati-speaking suburb of the city.

On the Waqf Amendment Act 2025, he said his party opposed the legislation because non-Muslims are appointed on the Waqf Board.

“Then my basic question is, what is the guarantee that you (the government) will not appoint non-Hindus to Hindu religious organisations? This is the same question the Supreme Court has asked the government on the Waqf Act,” Thackeray remarked.

He further claimed that his government was toppled because, as a chief minister, he had stalled the implementation of labour codes in the state.

Thackeray said that in workplaces where the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena union has a presence, party men should be hired to fill vacancies.

“Our men should be employed there. They must go to ‘shakhas’ once a week. It cannot be the case that they are with the Kamgar Sena at work and with other parties outside,” he said. PTI PR NSK ARU ARU