New Delhi: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah addressed the Official Language Diamond Jubilee Celebrations and the 4th Akhil Bharatiya Rajbhasha Sammelan in New Delhi today.
The Home Minister released the Diamond Jubilee Special Issue of the ‘Rajbhasha Bharati’ magazine specially prepared for the occasion. Shri Amit Shah also released a commemorative postage stamp and commemorative coin to mark the Diamond Jubilee. Shri Shah also presented the Rajbhasha Gaurav and Rajbhasha Kirti Awards. On this occasion, the Home Minister also launched the Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhaag (Indian Languages Section).
In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that the journey of the last 75 years has been of the acceptance of Hindi as the official language and to preserve and promote our traditions, culture, languages, literature, art and grammar by connecting all the local languages of the country through it. He said that the 75-year journey of Hindi is now positioned at the final stage of achieving its objectives and today is the day to make Hindi a language of communication, people, technology and now an international language as well.
Union Home Minister said that today the Indian Languages Section has been inaugurated. He said that we all have become witnesses to a new beginning which is akin to the sowing of a small seed that will soon grow into like a big Banyan Tree. He said that this Indian Languages Section will become the centre for the protection of our languages, in the coming years. He said that the Indian Languages Section will become a supplementary section of the Department of Official Language because 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.
Shri Amit Shah said that there can never be competition between Hindi and local languages because Hindi is a friend of all local languages. He said that 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. He said that if any article, speech or letter is in Hindi, then the Indian Languages Section will translate it into all the languages of the country. Similarly, literature, articles and speeches in all the languages of the country will be translated into Hindi, which is the need of the hour.
Union Home Minister said that those who do not incorporate Swaraj, Swadharma and Swabhasha cannot free their future generations from slave mentality. He said that Swabhasha is included in the definition of Swaraj itself. He said that the country and people who cannot protect their languages get cut off from their history, literature, and culture, and their future generations continue living with a slave mentality. Shri Shah said that it is very important that even after 75 years of independence, we work by emphasizing on Shivaji Maharaj’s principles of Swaraj, Swabhasha and Swadharma. He added that in the new education policy, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has stressed imparting primary education in the mother tongue. He 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. He said that for this reason, Prime Minister Modi has laid great emphasis on imparting education in his mother tongue. The Home Minister 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.
Shri Amit Shah said that Hindi has a huge contribution to our freedom movement. He said that one of the main reasons behind the failure of the revolution of 1857 was the lack of a connecting language. He said that our country is not a geopolitical but a geo-cultural country and the link that connects our country is culture. He added that the unity of our country is built on culture, 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.
Union Home Minister said that whether it was Dr 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. He said that all of them had different mother tongues but they understood that the Hindi language was a medium to unite the country, so by making Hindi a symbol of national unity, they gave it the form of an official language.
Shri Amit Shah said that if anyone can save our languages, it is only mothers. He requested all parents to speak to their children in their mother tongue only. He said that if we do this, nothing will put our languages to peril. Shri Shah said that our languages will continue to serve the country and the world for a long time. He said that the coming time belongs to the official language and other Indian languages. He said that now no one can keep this country in any kind of slavery and can never keep it in slavery of language.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the Department of Official Language has done a lot of work towards making Hindi accommodative and acceptable. He said that Hindi can never be polluted with the assimilation of words from other Indian languages because Hindi is like Mother Ganges and will always remain sacred. Many words are not in Hindi but in other local languages and we have accepted them. He added that while Hindi accepts these words, many words of Hindi are also accepted by our local languages. The Home Minister said that we have included words from every language of India in the Shabd Sindhu dictionary. He said that we must make Hindi acceptable, flexible and conversational. He exuded confidence that the Shabd Sindhu dictionary will become the world’s largest dictionary before the next Lok Sabha elections.
Shri Amit Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the Central Government is working towards the use of Hindi in education, technical education, and the judiciary. He said that Hindi should be taken forward not with struggle but with bold acceptance. Shri Shah said that many judgments of the Supreme Court have also been translated into many Indian languages. He said Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand have today made the entire curriculum of medical education in Hindi. He said that work is underway to prepare an engineering curriculum in about 13 languages of India and in the coming days, the language of research will also definitely be Hindi.
Union Home Minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, our roadmap to increase the acceptability of Hindi is progressing successfully. He 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. He said that when former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed the United Nations General Assembly in Hindi, the whole world was astonished. Shri Shah said that today Hindi has become the language of the United Nations and has also become the second language of more than 10 countries. He said that Hindi is now moving towards becoming an international language.
Shri Amit Shah said that the languages of India can only be strengthened by Hindi and vice versa. He said that today files and correspondences in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Cooperation are being written in Hindi. He said language is an expression, and expression is vocal when it is in one’s own language.
