India, April 19 -- Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday made it clear that his party will strongly oppose any attempt to impose Hindi in Maharashtra. Reacting to the state government's recent move to make Hindi a compulsory third language for students from Classes 1 to 5, Thackeray declared that such compulsion would not be tolerated.

Speaking at an event of the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, the workers' wing of his party, Thackeray emphasized that while he holds no hostility towards the Hindi language, he firmly questioned the need to impose it forcefully in schools. His comments come in the backdrop of growing outrage from opposition parties and cultural groups over the state's decision, which marks a shift from the longstanding...