India, July 3 -- As the BJP-led Mahayuti government's attempt to impose Hindi as the third language in the state's schools snowballed into a high-stakes political controversy, an unexpected but decisive voice was working to get the government to back down.

Deepak Pawar, 53, a political science professor with the University of Mumbai, rallied the forces opposed to the government's stand. "It (imposing Hindi as the third language) was not about child psychology or improving education; it was an attempt to use language as a cultural weapon."

Pawar, founder of the Marathi Abhyas Kendra, which promotes the Marathi language and culture, says his team began quietly mobilising resistance across Maharashtra from April 16. The campaign wasn't lou...