Overview

• The BJP-led state government rescinded two orders making Hindi compulsory for Classes 1–5 and set up an expert panel to reassess the three-language formula.
• MNS workers continued to target non-Marathi speakers, most recently assaulting a Rajasthani shopkeeper in Vikhroli on July 17 and forcing public apologies.
• Raj Thackeray defended his activists’ violence as a “befitting response” to Hindi imposition and warned his party would shut down schools if Hindi returns as mandatory.
• BJP MP Nishikant Dubey vowed that the Thackerays would be “peet peet ke” beaten outside Maharashtra, prompting Raj Thackeray to challenge him to “dubo dubo ke” drown him in Mumbai’s sea.
• A PIL filed in the Supreme Court on July 19 demands an FIR against Raj Thackeray and MNS workers for inciting violence, highlighting unresolved tensions ahead of civic elections.