The struggle to “defeat Hindi imposition” has transcended state boundaries, said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday.

His statement came hours after a “victory rally” was held in Maharashtra by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin Raj Thackeray, president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, to mark the state government’s rollback of the policy to teach Hindi as a third language in primary schools.

“The language rights struggle, waged generation after generation by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the people of Tamil Nadu to defeat Hindi imposition, has now transcended state boundaries and is swirling like a storm of protest in Maharashtra,” Stalin wrote in a social media post.

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of acting “lawlessly and anarchically”, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief said the Maharashtra government was forced to withdraw the policy due to fear of the “people’s uprising”.

The BJP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra. It also comprises the Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

“The enthusiasm and powerful oratory of the victory rally held today in Mumbai under the leadership of brother Uddhav Thackeray against Hindi imposition fills us with immense excitement,” said Stalin.

He added that the Union government, which he claimed prioritises the promotion of Hindi and Sanskrit, does not have answers to Raj Thackeray’s questions about the third language being taught in schools of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray had announced the joint rally on June 27 to protest against the Maharashtra government’s proposal to teach Hindi as the third language to students from Class 1 to Class 5 in Marathi and English medium schools.

However, on June 29, the state government withdrew its resolution. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also announced that a new committee had been formed to advise the state on implementing the National Education Policy’s three-language formula.

Following this, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena decided to hold a joint “victory rally”.

Stalin said on Saturday that the “uprising in Maharashtra will open” the eyes of those who are “unaware of the history of numerous Indian languages being destroyed due to Hindi imposition”.

‘Won’t allow discrimination against Tamil Nadu’

The Tamil Nadu chief minister also once again criticised the Union government for withholding funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme for the financial year 2024-’25 to Tamil Nadu.

“We will not allow the discrimination in fund allocation for Tamil Nadu,” said Stalin.

The Samagra Shiksha scheme, implemented in 2018, is the scheme through which the Union government provides support for elementary and secondary school education.

It resulted from the merger of three schemes: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for universal elementary education, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan for secondary and higher secondary schools and Teacher Training Education such as the District Institutes of Education and Training.

In April, the Union education ministry had told the Rajya Sabha that Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal received no funds under the central education scheme for 2024-’25.

Data shared in the Upper House by Minister of State for Education Jayant Choudhary showed that while Kerala was allocated Rs 328.90 crore, Tamil Nadu Rs 2,151.60 crore and West Bengal Rs 1,745.80 crore from the Centre for the current fiscal year under the scheme, no funds had been released to these states as of March 27.

Choudhary said that funds under the scheme, which is used for educational components like textbooks, infrastructure upgrades and teacher salaries, were released to states and Union territories based on several criteria.

The halt in funding to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal comes against the backdrop of these states refusing to comply with the PM Schools for Rising India, or PM SHRI, scheme.

The centrally-sponsored scheme aims to upgrade the infrastructure of schools managed by central, state or regional bodies. However, to avail the scheme’s benefits, state governments must first sign a memorandum of understanding with the Centre to implement the 2020 National Education Policy.

The 2020 National Education Policy proposes major changes to the curricular structure for school education, claims to promote flexibility in choosing academic streams and emphasises on using the mother tongue as a key medium of instruction in primary school, among other measures.

The policy has been criticised by sections of the academic community, for encouraging the privatisation of public institutions. It was also criticised for creating numerous “exit” options for students, which opponents said would encourage dropouts.

Tamil Nadu has repeatedly expressed opposition to the three-language formula in the National Education Policy. The state government said it will not change its decades-old two-language policy of teaching students Tamil and English.

The three-language formula refers to teaching students English, Hindi and the native language of a state. It was introduced in the first National Education Policy in 1968 and was retained in the new policy introduced in 2020.