Hyderabad, June 10 -- Kerala High Court on Monday, June 9, deferred a government order which mandated Hindi as the third language while replacing Mahal and Arabic in schools across Lakshadweep.

On May 14, the education department of Lakshadweep had issued an orderaccording to which all schools in Minicoy Island would offer Malayalam and English as the first and second languages, while Hindi would replace the local language Mahal and Arabic as the third language. This led to widespread protests in the area.

The court, during the hearing, asked the Lakshadweep administration if any study had been carried out to determine the educational interests of the community, to which the administration replied negatively. However, the administration...