Govt will not tolerate violence in the name of language dispute: Fadnavis

The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Special Centre for Security and Strategic Studies, planned under the School of International Studies which aims to explore war strategy and traditions based on the Maratha empire. The centre is going to become the study centre of military history, strategy and future policy development rooted in India’s past.

Shortly after his arrival, the Student Federation of India (SFI) protested over the Maharashtra Special Security Bill and growing instances of attack against non-Marathi residents (North Indians and others) in several parts of the state and failure of the government to deal with it effectively.

In response to the protest, Chief Minister Fadnavis said, “There is nothing wrong in insisting on Marathi language in Maharashtra. At the same time, there should be no disregard for other Indian languages. Violence of any kind in the name of language dispute cannot be tolerated. Wherever such instances occurred, strong action has been taken. And if it reoccurs, it will be firmly dealt with.”

“Marathi is a culturally rich language that was accorded the status of a ‘classical language’ by the Narendra Modi government. There is nothing wrong with having pride in Marathi language. The issue here is not about Marathi vs Hindi. What needs to be understood is that along with Marathi, one should also respect other Indian languages. As someone just mentioned, Tamil is also historically and culturally a very rich language. The Chola dynasty ruled for a thousand years and there is a huge history which we cannot overlook,” said Fadnavis.

Referring to the visionary king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Fadnavis said, “Shivaji Maharaj has never taught us to be narrow minded. With limited resources and manpower, he defeated the mighty Mughal army through his strategic warfare.Moghul ruler Aurangzeb was finished and his ‘kabar’ built but Shivaji’s ‘swaraj’ lived eternally.”

The Kusumagraj centre at JNU will offer postgraduate and certificate-level programmes to promote multilingualism and cultural understanding. Under this, MA in Marathi and certificate courses to go with the NEP for non-Marathi speakers will be offered.