Must get rid of the disease that is English: Naidu

Vice president M Venkaiah Naidu Friday termed Hindi as the symbol of socio-political and linguistic unity of the country and pitched for the translation of literature of regional languages into it.

Addressing an event organised on the occasion of ‘Hindi Divas’, Naidu said Hindi was the main communication language among the freedom fighters of the country and it was spoken and understood by most of the people in the country.

“It was the symbol of social, political, religious and linguistic unity of the country. Even today, these qualities make it acceptable among all other languages,” he said.

However, he also triggered controversy when some reports quoted him terming the English language a disease. “This disease of English that we have been left with, we must get rid of it,” the Vice President said in his speech that was in Hindi.

“Language and emotions go together. If you want to reach out to people, understand them .... than you have to properly express your emotions. It is easier to express your feeling in one’s mother tongue, in an Indian language. This is everybody’s experience. That’s why one should speak in one’s mother tongue at home. Yeh bimari jo angrezi wala chhod kar gaya, is bimari se hamein mukt karna chahiye (This disease of English that was left behind, we should rid ourselves of this disease…)” M Venkaiah Naidu said at the function at Vigyan Bhawan.

The vice president said all Indian languages were vibrant and each of them had its own literature, dictionary and idioms.

“There should be more

NEWDELHI: Yeh bimari jo angrezi wala chhod kar gaya, is bimari se hamein mukt karna chahiye (We must get rid of this disease of English that we have been left with) VENKAIAH NAIDU, vice president