Maharashtra, long regarded as one of India’s most cosmopolitan states, has found itself reliving an old tension: a renewed battle over language.
In the last few months, a state government order mandating Hindi as the third language in primary schools has sparked not just political protests but also public violence. A rickshaw driver was assaulted after refusing to speak in the state language Marathi, a shopkeeper was slapped by political activists for using Hindi, and a bank employee was threatened for defending his use of Hindi and English.
