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Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Poet Hemant Divate to return state award as protest against imposition of Hindi in schools
Hemant Divate, a poet who has received a state award for his poetry collection, has announced that he is returning the award in protest against the imposition of Hindi as the third language in classes 1 to 5, in Marathi and English medium schools in Maharashtra. Divate was awarded by the government of Maharashtra in the year 2021 with Kavi Keshavsut Puraskar (award) for his book Paranoia, a collection of his poems. He made the announcement of his decision to return the award via his social media where he posted, 'As a protest against the decision to impose Hindi as the third language, I am returning the Maharashtra State Government's award, including the cash prize, that I received for my poetry collection Paranoia.' Divate said, 'It is completely unnecessary to teach Hindi formally in schools at this young age. At this stage, children are just beginning to learn Marathi, and learning Hindi simultaneously—given the similarities between the two languages—can create confusion. Instead, the government could consider introducing subjects focused on skills, value education, and personality development, which would be more beneficial for young learners.' Months after retracting its decision to make Hindi mandatory in Classes 1 to 5, the Maharashtra school education department issued a revised order, removing the word 'mandatory' as promised. However, restrictive conditions on language options have sparked fresh controversy, with many calling it a renewed push for Hindi by the state government.
Hindustan Times
18-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Beed police arrest seven in connection with assault in Parali
The Beed police have arrested seven youths on charges of allegedly abducting and assaulting a youth identified as Shivraj Narayan Divate, a resident of Limbota in Parali Tahsil, on Friday afternoon. A video of the attack went viral on social media bringing back memories of the abduction and murder of Massajog Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. The incident prompted deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar to direct Beed police not to hesitate to invoke the stringent MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) if required. According to the police, Divate was abducted between 3 to 3.30 pm on Friday while he was returning from the Hanuman Mandir event. He was attacked with sticks and iron rods by a group of twenty people. An eyewitness shot a video of the attack while some others intervened. When contacted, Beed superintendent of police Navneet Kanwat said, 'We have arrested seven persons so far in connection with the assault on Divate. Police have registered a case for attempt to murder and rioting. The victim has given the names of ten accused persons, and out of them, two are minors.' Referring to the video of the assault, deputy CM Pawar told reporters in Pune that he had asked the police to impose charges under MCOCA if needed. Pawar is the guardian minister of the Beed district. The police have invoked BNS sections 109, 126 (2),140 (3),118 (1), 189 (2), 189 (4), 190, 193 (3) against the accused. The police appealed that the incident was a fight between youths and religious or casteist overtones must not be given to the incident.
