Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday sought to downplay worries about the decline of Marathi, saying that it is "inscribed on rocks, hearts and hills" and has survived foreign rule.
Thackeray was speaking at a function at the Vidhan Bhavan (state legislature complex) to celebrate Marathi Language Day.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and other ministers too were present.
"When we celebrate `Marathi Bhasha Din'', why do we do it by expressing concern about what will happen to Marathi?" the chief minister said.
"Marathi is not an ordinary language. Leave aside the language, there was a time when even the hoof-beats of the horses that Marathas rode made enemies run helter-skelter," he said.
"Marathi is inscribed on rocks, hearts and hills. Only speaking the language should suffice," Thackeray said.
Marathi survived Mughal and British rules, he pointed out.
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The chief minister also asked why there was a need for anyone''s approval for granting the status of classical language to Marathi.
"Those who are seeking evidence of whether Marathi is a classical language wouldn't have been born had Shivaji Maharaj not been there," he said.
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"मराठी भाषा ही साधीसुधी भाषा नाही आहे. एक जमाना असा होता की मराठ्यांच्या घोड्यांचा टापांचा जरी आवाज आला तरी दुश्मनांची पळापळ व्हायची, त्या मराठीचं वाकडं करण्याची कोणाची टाप आहे?"
— Office of Uddhav Thackeray (@OfficeofUT) February 27, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
-मुख्यमंत्री उद्धव बाळासाहेब ठाकरे pic.twitter.com/DPtsJ5sJcv
">"मराठी भाषा ही साधीसुधी भाषा नाही आहे. एक जमाना असा होता की मराठ्यांच्या घोड्यांचा टापांचा जरी आवाज आला तरी दुश्मनांची पळापळ व्हायची, त्या मराठीचं वाकडं करण्याची कोणाची टाप आहे?"
— Office of Uddhav Thackeray (@OfficeofUT) February 27, 2020
-मुख्यमंत्री उद्धव बाळासाहेब ठाकरे pic.twitter.com/DPtsJ5sJcv"मराठी भाषा ही साधीसुधी भाषा नाही आहे. एक जमाना असा होता की मराठ्यांच्या घोड्यांचा टापांचा जरी आवाज आला तरी दुश्मनांची पळापळ व्हायची, त्या मराठीचं वाकडं करण्याची कोणाची टाप आहे?"
— Office of Uddhav Thackeray (@OfficeofUT) February 27, 2020
-मुख्यमंत्री उद्धव बाळासाहेब ठाकरे pic.twitter.com/DPtsJ5sJcv
Stressing the need to imbibe Marathi culture, he also asked why schools are not named for Maharashtrian saints such as Tukaram, Namdev and others.
He respects other languages, the chief minister added.
Ajit Pawar said the urge to speak the language should "come from within".
Marathi should be used in trade and also in computer operations, he said.
The deputy CM lauded passage of a bill in the Legislative Council making Marathi a compulsory subject in the schools of all boards in Maharashtra.
Speaking at another event to mark the day, chief minister Thackeray termed Marathi a "language of the brave" which has a tradition of thousands of years.
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"It will survive for centuries to come. It is rich because of the abundant literature in it," he was quoted as saying in an official statement.
He was lucky that the bill making Marathi a compulsory subject across schools in the state was passed during his tenure as chief minister, Thackeray said while urging those who have come to Maharashtra from outside to learn Marathi. (PTI report)
