Union Home Minister Amit Shah greeted the Hindi Day on Sunday and called upon everyone to respect all Indian languages and move forward towards a self -reliant, confident and developed country.
Shah said that from the heights of the Himalayas to the vast beaches of the south, from the desert to the rugged forests and the chaupals of the villages, languages have shown the way to man in every situation and unite through communication and expression.
He also said that the biggest strength of the languages of India is that he has given an opportunity to express every class and community.
He said in his message on the occasion of Hindi Day, “Our country is basically a language-oriented nation. Our languages have been a powerful medium to advance culture, history, traditions, knowledge, science, philosophy and spirituality.”
While wishing the Hindi Day, the Home Minister said that they firmly believe that languages are moving together by becoming each other’s co-selection and tied in the thread of unity.
He said, “On this occasion of Hindi Day, let us respect all Indian languages including Hindi and move towards a self -sufficient, confident and developed India.”
Shah said that “walking together, thinking and speaking together” has been the basic mantra of India’s linguistic-cultural consciousness.
He said that Bihu’s songs in the Northeast, Oviyalu’s voice in Tamil Nadu, Lohri songs in Punjab, Vidyapati’s verses in Bihar, Bowl Saints’ Bhajan in Bengal, Kajri songs and Bhikhari Thakur’s’ Bidesia ‘ – all these have kept the country’s culture vibrant and welfare.
The Home Minister said that the posts of Saint Thiruvalluvar are sung with the same reverence in the south as they are read with interest in the north and Krishnadevaraya was as popular in the south as it was in the north.
He said, “Subramaniam Bharti’s patriotic compositions arous a sense of national pride among the youth of every region. Goswami Tulsidas is revered for every Indian and the couplets of Sant Kabir are translated into Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.”
Shah said that Surdas’ poems are still prevalent in temples and music traditions of South India. He said, “Every Vaishnav knows Srimanta Shankardev of Assam and Mahapurush Madhavdev and the youth of Bhupen Hazarika also hum the youth of Haryana.”
The Home Minister said that even in the difficult times of slavery, Indian languages became a voice of resistance. He said, “Our languages played an important role in making the freedom movement nationwide. Our freedom fighters connected the languages of areas and villages to the freedom struggle.”
The Home Minister said that poets, litterateurs and playwrights of all Indian languages along with Hindi, strengthened the resolve of freedom in every age group, class and community through folk languages, folklore, folk songs and folklore.
He said, “Slogans like Vande Mataram and Jai Hind emerged from our linguistic consciousness and became a symbol of pride for independent India.”
Shah said that when the country got independence, the constitution makers had extensive discussions on the capacity and importance of languages and adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script on 14 September 1949 as the official language.
He said that Article 351 of the Constitution assigns the responsibility of promoting and spreading Hindi to make it an effective medium of overall culture of India.
He said, “The golden era of the Renaissance of Indian languages and culture has come under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last decade. Whether it is the platform of the United Nations, to address the G20 Summit or Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Modi ji has raised the pride of Indian languages by communicating in Hindi and other Indian languages.”
The Home Minister said that during the nectar of independence, Modi has taken a punch pledge to free the country from the symbols of slavery, in which languages have an important role. “We should adopt Indian languages as a medium of communication and interaction,” he said.
Shah said that Rajbhasha Hindi has completed 76 glorious years and the Department of Official Language has completed 50 golden years of its establishment and has done remarkable work in making Hindi the language of the people and the language of public awareness.
He said, “Since the year 2014, the use of Hindi in government work is constantly being promoted.”
The Home Minister said that the Indian Language section has been established in 2024 with the aim of ensuring uninterrupted translations among all major Indian languages.
He said, “Our goal is to ensure that Hindi and other Indian languages not only become the medium of communication, but also the foundation of technology, science, justice, education and administration.”
Shah said that in this era of Digital India, e-governance, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the government is developing Indian languages as a inspiring power to lead Indian languages in the future, relevant and global technical competition.
He said, “Mithila’s poet Vidyapati ji has rightly said: ‘Desil Bayana Sub Jan Meetha’ means its language is the sweetest.”
