Hindi not competing with any local language: Shah
NEW DELHI: “If PM can speak Hindi internationally, what are we embarrassed about?” asked Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, as he pitched for the wider use of the language in the country on the occasion of Hindi Diwas.
“Gone are the days when speaking in Hindi was a matter of embarrassment... If PM can speak Hindi internationally, what are we embarrassed about?... The government is committed towards parallel development of Hindi and all Indian languages,” he said, in a virtual address to an event organised at Vigyan Bhawan by the Department of Languages in the ministry.
Hindi Diwas is celebrated on September 14 to mark the day the Constituent Assembly adopted the language as an official language.
Asserting that ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) meant being ‘atmanirbhar’ in terms of language, the Union minister said: “Being atmanirbhar is not just about the production of goods within the country. We have to be atmanirbhar even with languages and only then our imagination of Aatmanirbhar India will be fulfilled...”
He added that all Indian languages complement each other. “Different opinions come. But I want to clarify that Hindi is not competing with any other Indian language. It is actually a sakhi (friend) of all Indian languages and it will prosper only with co-existence.”
Shah further suggested that just like September 14 is an occasion to reassess and review efforts to promote Hindi every year, a similar and simultaneous exercise should be undertaken to promote all local languages too.
“No foreign language can connect you with this country’s core thoughts,” he said.
Referring to the New Education Policy (NEP) envisaged by Modi, Shah asserted the provisions for promotion of regional and Hindi languages.
On Tuesday, coming in support of the voices against Hindi Diwas celebration, JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said in a Twitter post: “Kannada is first in Karnataka. Hindi Diwas celebration is unnecessary. Let’s not disturb the peace in multilingual India by imposing Hindi.” Several other organisations like Karnataka Janaadhikaara Paksha observed it as ‘Black Day’.