Monday, June 30, 2025 | 27 Pages | `5 & for State `6 Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Vol. 68 No. 229 | Leader in E-paper circulation l www.freepressjournal.in ● EDITIONS: ● MUMBAI ● INDORE ● PUNE ● BHOPAL ● NASHIK ● KONKAN ● E-paper ● Member: Audit Bureau of Circulation (July to December 2024) NATION Tejashwi Yadav claims that the new Mahagathbandhan government will ‘consign to dustbin’ the Waqf Act GAMES LANGUAGE ROW | Government forms panel led by Dr Jadhav to examine the concerns Maha scraps Hindi plan after outrage Bills for the session T hrough education, Leena Kejriwal is helping to protect girls from sex trafficking. Turn to the Mumbai page to find out how. SEE P5 Kerala Zumba row spreads ■ Maharashtra Municipal Council, Nagar Panchayat and Industrial Townships (Amendment) Bill 2025: to offer relief in property tax payments. Kalpesh Mhamunkar MUMBAI Agencies THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Days after several Muslim organisations raised concerns over the use of Zumba fitnes programme in Kerala's school anti-drug campaign, a Sangh Parivar outfit has now come out strongly against the state government on Sunday, calling the move a "cultural invasion" and a "show of hypocrisy". The Bharatiya Vichara Kendram, a right-wing cultural think tank, accused the Left government of promoting foreign practices while neglecting Kerala's rich heritage in traditional sports, yoga, and dance. 4Contd on | Nation Facing strong resistance from opposition parties and sections of Marathi society, the Maharashtra government has withdrawn its controversial decision to make Hindi a compulsory subject in primary education. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, addressing a press conference on the eve of the state assembly session, announced the cancellation of two Government Resolutions (GRs) issued earlier by the School Education Department regarding Hindi instruction from Classes 1 to 5. The first GR had made Hindi compulsory from Class 1 to 5, which was met with sharp criticism from political Cinema Shefali Jariwala’s ashes immersed at Juhu Beach Smashing a maiden T20I century against England was ‘pretty special’, says Smriti Mandhana parties, Marathi literary figures, and civil society. In response, a revised GR was issued stating that Hindi would not be compulsory but could be taught if at least 20 students in a class opted for it. However, opposition parties alleged that this move was a "backdoor entry" for imposing Hindi in schools. Clarifying the government’s stand, CM Fadnavis said, “We are not running away. Let the opposition hold discussions — we are ready to respond. For us, the Marathi language and Marathi students are of utmost importance. Our policy will remain student-centric, not politically motivated.” 4Contd on | Nation 4See City ■ Gadchiroli District Mining Authority Bill 2025: to set up authority for handling mining-related issues. ■ Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority Bill 2025: to set up an authority to oversee mela preparations and management. ■ Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Removal and Redevelopment) (Amendment) Bill 2025. ■ Maharashtra GST (Amendment) Bill 2025. ■ A report of the joint select committee on Maharashtra Jana Suraksha Bill 2024 likely to be tabled. Edit World peace and security in the age of converging tech Trump finds ‘very wealthy people’ ready to buy TikTok Agencies Mustn’t forget those who fought Emergency: Modi FPJ News Service MUMBAI WASHINGTON US President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview broadcast on Sunday that he had found a buyer for the TikTok short-video app, which he described as a group of "very wealthy people" whose identities he will reveal in about two weeks. Trump made the remarks in an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" program. He said the deal he is developing would probably need China's approval to move forward and he predicted Chinese President Xi Jinping would likely approve it. 4Contd on | Nation PM Modi, in his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat on Sunday, strongly criticised the Emergency imposed by the Congress-led government in 1975, calling it a dark chapter in India’s democratic history. He played excerpts from speeches of prominent anti-Emergency leaders, including former Prime Ministers Morarji Desai and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as well as former Deputy PM Jagjivan Ram, to underline the gravity of the suppression during that period. Modi described the Emergency as a time when the Constitution was "murdered" and the judiciary was reduced to a puppet, emphasizing that such events must always be remembered to inspire vigilance and This inspires us to remain constantly vigilant to keep our Constitution strong and enduring. Narendra Modi Prime Minister safeguard democracy. Modi said, "We should always remember all those people who fought the Emergency with fortitude. This inspires us to remain constantly vigilant to keep our Constitution strong and enduring." Without directly naming the Congress party or then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, he condemned the large-scale atrocities committed between 1975 and 1977, stating that public participation is the greatest force to resist such authoritarianism. He recalled how George Fernandes was shackled, and citizens could be detained arbitrarily under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). Students were harassed, and freedom of expression was stifled, he said. 4Contd on | Nation ‘Sabotage angle under probe in AI 171 crash’ FPJ News Service NEW DELHI The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is investigating all possibilities in the Air India AI 171 crash, including sabotage angle, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said. Extraction and analysis of data from the black boxes is being carried out in the new state-of-the-art laboratory in Delhi, he added. CCTV footage is being reviewed, and several agencies are involved, he told a media event in Pune. The minister called the crash a "rare case", which killed more than 270 people. "It has never happened that both engines have shut down to- gether," Mohol said, referring to claims by veteran pilots and experts that a dual engine failure may have led to the crash. The black box of flight AI 171 has been recovered and remains in the custody of the AAIB and the investigation would be conducted entirely within the country, according to Mohol. "These devices will not be sent outside the country for a thorough assessment." Problems plaguing Air India flights continued on Sunday as a Delhi-bound flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport was diverted to Kolkata due to "persistent warm temperature" in the cabin. 4Contd on | Nation