Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that Hindi is not a competitor (spardhak) but a friend (sakhi) of other Indian languages, and there is no conflict between them. While addressing the audience at the inauguration of the fifth Akhil Rajbhasha Sam Milan in Gandhinagar on Hindi Diwas, the Home Minister said,
“Hindi should not just be a language of conversation or administration. Hindi should be the language of science, technology, judiciary, and the police. When these works happen in Indian languages, the connection with citizens increases automatically.”
Many citizens of India, home to several dialects and languages, have often criticised the central government for laying special emphasis on the language of the northern region of the country. In many states, Hindi is neither spoken nor used for official purposes.
Highlighting the importance of Indian languages, Shah went on to say, “Hindi is not a competitor of Indian languages. Hindi is a friend of Indian languages. There is no conflict between Hindi and Indian languages, and the biggest example of this is Gujarat. Gujarat is not a Hindi-speaking state; the state’s language is Gujarati. But in Gujarat, from the beginning, scholars like Dayanand Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, K. M. Munshi and others accepted Hindi and propagated it. Gujarat became the best example of coexistence of Hindi and Gujarati, and both languages developed.”
In the western state of Gujarat, Hindi is part of the education system, and children learn how to speak, write, and study Hindi.
“Mahatma Gandhi was a Gujarati, but he used to say that Hindi is a language which binds the country in one thread,” said Shah, referring to two initiatives of the central government: Bahu Bhashi Anuvaad Saath (an application for translation) and Hindi Shabd Sindhu (a dictionary of the Hindi language).
Evoking Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Home Minister said, “For Swaraj, Shivaji Maharaj put forth three points — Swaraj, Swadharm, and Swar Bhasha. All three are connected with each other and, in a way, connected with the country’s Swabhimaan. A country which does not have its own language for conversation cannot desire independence. It also cannot feel Swabhimaan. It can happen only when we are proud of our languages. And so we have formed Shabd Sindhu. It started with 51,000 words and now it has crossed seven lakh. By 2029, Hindi Shabd Sindhu will be the biggest dictionary among all languages in the world.”
“Many scholars of Hindi insist that Hindi should be full of Sanskrit. There is no problem with that, but the emptiness that exists has to be filled with Indian languages. Only then will all other Indian languages and people feel Hindi as their own. Hindi can become a language of conversation only when it becomes flexible… Those who do not change with time become history, and I believe our language will not become history. Language is history. It is present as well as the future,” said the Home Minister, pointing towards making the Hindi language more flexible.
The Minister also urged parents to converse in Hindi with their children.