New Delhi, Sep 14 (FN Agency) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that without strengthening all Indian languages and establishing their mutual congruence with Hindi, the official language cannot be promoted. Addressing the Official Language Diamond Jubilee Celebrations and the 4th Akhil Bharatiya Rajbhasha Sammelan at the Bharat Mandapam here Shah said, “The promotion of the official language cannot take place until we strengthen all our local languages and establish a dialogue between the official language and other Indian languages”. He said that there can never be competition between Hindi and local languages because Hindi is a friend of all local languages. Hindi and local languages complement each other and that is why the bonhomie between Hindi and all local languages will be strengthened through the Indian Languages Section.
The Home Minister said that the easiest language for a child to process linguistic expression, thinking, understanding, reasoning, analysis and reaching a decision is through his/her mother tongue. Shah said that today is the day to strengthen all the languages of India and to make the official language the connecting language of the country through which we can carry out the work of our country in our own languages. He said, ‘Hindi has a huge contribution in our freedom movement. One of the main reasons behind the failure of the revolution of 1857 was the lack of a connecting language”. The Minister said that India is not a geopolitical but a geo-cultural country and the link that connects the country is culture. Adding that “The unity of our country is built on culture, and our culture is linked and built on languages and the day we lose our languages, the unity of the country will be in great danger”. Shah said that whether it was Bhim Rao Ambedkar, C Rajagopalachari, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, KM Munshi, Lala Lajpat Rai, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose or Acharya Kripalani, most of our leaders who promoted Hindi came from non-Hindi speaking areas.
All of them had different mother tongues but they understood that Hindi language is a medium to unite the country, so by making Hindi a symbol of national unity, they gave it the form of an official language. Stating that only mothers can save languages, the Minister requested all parents to speak to their children in their mother tongue only. If this is done, nothing will put languages to peril. He said that Hindi can never be polluted with assimilation of words from other Indian languages because Hindi is like mother Ganges and will always remain sacred. Shah said that the Central Government is working towards the use of Hindi in education, technical education, and the judiciary. Hindi should be taken forward not with struggle but with bold acceptance. The Home Minister said that the Prime Minister has worked to increase the acceptance of Hindi by delivering his address in Hindi with confidence and pride on the biggest stage of the World. When former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed the United Nations General Assembly in Hindi, the whole world was astonished. Today Hindi has become the language of the United Nations and has also become the second language of more than 10 countries and Hindi is now moving towards becoming an international language. He released the Diamond Jubilee Special Issue of the ‘Rajbhasha Bharati’ magazine and also commemorative postage stamp and commemorative coin to mark the Diamond Jubilee. Shah presented the Rajbhasha Gaurav and Rajbhasha Kirti Awards and launched the Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhaag (Indian Languages Section). Present on the occasion were Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, Harivansh Narayan Singh, Union Ministers of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai and Bandi Sanjay Kumar and others.