Union Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized the intrinsic connection between Hindi and all other languages in India during a statement made on Monday. He highlighted the government’s commitment to enriching every language across the country. Shah also warned against the dangers of fostering linguistic discord, underscoring the importance of unity in India’s diverse linguistic landscape.
Asserting that regional languages are the queens in their respective provinces while Hindi is the central jewel among all these languages, Shah said India’s voice must remain one among many dialects. “Hindi has this connection with all the languages of the country because all these languages have been part of India’s everyday speech for centuries and have been in mutual interaction for hundreds of years,” Shah said.
“The government wants to make Indian languages, languages of governance and science, enrich literature, and connect Indian languages with one another to create a vast collective linguistic resource. “If the child attempts to understand India through a foreign language, there is a possibility of misunderstanding it. “Children should learn Indian languages. Learning a second Indian language means that a child will automatically become connected with the goal of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’. Along with learning their mother tongue, if children learn another Indian language, they will automatically connect with their Indian identity and, freed from narrow-minded thinking, become true citizens committed to India. The government wants to enrich every language of India. Shah further highlighted the importance of Hindi and other languages working in tandem to represent Indian culture. “As stated by Rabindranath Tagore, Indian culture and Indian literature are like a fully developed hundred-petalled lotus, each petal representing our regional languages. The destruction of even one petal would destroy the beauty of the lotus.
Therefore, Shah said, “I urge everyone to set aside political differences and focus on promoting Indian languages. Whether it is the JEE, NEET or an undergraduate entrance examination, these examinations are now conducted in 13 languages,” he added.
Highlighting that the language issue should not be politicized, the home minister said, “I would like to tell those who try to create disputes between languages that a child can truly understand India only through his or her mother tongue. He said those who oppose learning Indian languages do not realise how serious a mistake they are making. Let the regional languages remain as queens in their respective provinces, while Hindi, as the central jewel among all these languages, continues to enhance the beauty of this hundred-petalled lotus,” Shah said.
