Written by, Aug. 6 -- Neelatphal Chanda, Ishayu Gupta

In early July, images from Mumbai flashed across television screens and social media: a Marathi-speaking protester being forcibly detained while yelling into a news microphone, amid growing tensions over the Maharashtra government's controversial push to mandate Hindi in schools. What began as a policy tweak spiralled into a state-wide language identity crisis, bringing together estranged political cousins and reigniting age-old anxieties about cultural hegemony. But Maharashtra is not alone. As India approaches the Assembly elections, similar linguistic tinderboxes are being poked-if not lit-in West Bengal, Assam, and Bihar.

In these eastern and northeastern states, where linguistic...