Uddhav, Raj Thackeray to protest against 'Hindi imposition' in Maharashtra schools

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS) Raj Thackeray have announced a joint protest in Mumbai against the introduction of Hindi as an optional third language in Maharashtra schools. The protest, scheduled for July 5, will march from Girgaon Chowpatty to Azad Maidan. This comes in response to the Devendra Fadnavis government's decision to introduce Hindi as an optional third language from Classes 1 to 5. Uddhav Thackeray has accused the government of imposing a 'language emergency', while the BJP maintains it respects Marathi and is not imposing Hindi.