Overview

• Raj Thackeray charged that Devendra Fadnavis prioritizes Hindi for primary students while ignoring migrant labourers’ access to Marathi instruction.
• He dared authorities to arrest protesters under the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill if they oppose infrastructure projects.
• Thackeray demanded that the upcoming Navi Mumbai Airport hire exclusively Marathi youth.
• Fadnavis countered that Marathi is already mandatory in state schools and said the security law targets only threats to public order.
• The confrontation revives language and identity fault lines in Maharashtra after July’s rollback of Hindi teaching mandates.