Language hatred will harm the state: Maha governor

Amid the ongoing row over the ‘imposition’ of Hindi in primary schools, Maharashtra governor C P Radhakrishan said that linguistic differences and the hatred spread on account of these could harm the state in the long run

MUMBAI: Amid the ongoing row over the ‘imposition’ of Hindi in primary schools, Maharashtra governor C P Radhakrishan said that linguistic differences and the hatred spread on account of these could harm the state in the long run. Radhakrishnan was speaking at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday at the release of the coffee-table book ‘Maharashtra Nayak’ on CM Devendra Fadnavis.

Mumbai, India - March 3, 2025:CM Devendra Fadnavis receives Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan, during budget assembly session at Vidhan Bhavan, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, March 3, 2025. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The governor said that if “this kind of hatred” was spread, nobody would invest in the state. “I gather from newspapers that people are being beaten up for not speaking in Marathi,” he said. “We should understand that in the long run, this attitude is harmful to Maharashtra’s interests. We should not indulge in this political game.” Radhakrishnan’s remarks pertained to the cases of MNS workers assaulting people for not speaking Marathi.

Claiming that the prime minister had brought down the Below Poverty Line (BPL) population from 30% to 5% to 7%, Radhakrishnan said that the BPL population was mostly Hindi-speaking. “If we have to understand these downtrodden people, we will have to understand their language,” he said, adding, “We should learn as many languages as possible. There should be no compromise on the mother tongue but it does not mean that we should be against the mother tongue of others.”

The governor spoke specially on the language issue after the conclusion of the function. Water resources minister Girish Mahajan, who conceptualised the Fadnavis book, also spoke on the subject. “Although Marathi is our mother tongue, it is improper to beat someone for not speaking it, and it is not right for the state,” he said.