Maharashtra Govt demands status of 'Classical Language' to Marathi

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has demanded the status of 'Classical Language' to Marathi ahead of Marathi Language Day or Marathi Diwas, which is celebrated on February 27 every year.

Therefore, the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government-led Thackeray is hoping the Centre will accord the status to the state language by then.

Accordingly, on Sunday, February 20, Thackeray along with Shiv Sena Subhash Desai dispatched a courier containing around 4,000 postcards to President Ram Nath Kovind. This was the second lot of postcards.

मराठी भाषेला अभिजात भाषेचा दर्जा मिळावा यासाठी विविध क्षेत्रातील मान्यवरांनी महामहीम राष्ट्रपती यांना लिहिलेली सुमारे सहा हजार पत्रे आज मा. मुख्यमंत्री उध्दव बाळासाहे ठाकरे यांच्या उपस्थितीत दिल्लीकडे रवाना करण्यात आली. (१/२) pic.twitter.com/JAJ5AtzjA6

— Subhash Desai (@Subhash_Desai) February 20, 2022

Earlier, another lot of 6,000 postcards were sent to the President with the same plea.

If reports are to be believed people from across the state, including celebrities and commoners, have so far 'dropped' over 1,25,000 pleading postcards to Rashtrapati Bhavan in the past couple of months.

It was in December last year that the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar fired the first 'postcard' to the President, neatly typed in Marathi and signed by him, that started the trend.

Marathi is not only an ancient language but also the state language, used by litterateurs, intellectuals, by people of religion besides the common masses, and ranks among the major languages in the world, he pointed out.

MVA leaders pointed out that although the Centre took the decision in 2004 to confer the "classical language" status to various languages, the Marathi language has been ignored despite repeated requests.

Even a high-level committee of language experts appointed by the Centre had unanimously approved a proposal to this effect seven years ago, but there has been no further progress in the matter.

Moreover, the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, which started in 1878, has demanded the "classical language" status for Marathi several times in the past.

For those unversed, the status paves the way for two prestigious international-level awards for scholars of eminence in the Indian "classical language", setting up centres of excellence for studies, the University Grants Commission creating or starting certain number of Professional Chairs in these languages besides dedicating various institutions for the same to promote the study and research in such "classical languages".

Presently, there are only six Indian languages bestowed the status officially - Sanskrit, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Odia, based on various parameters.