Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sep 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted everyone on “Hindi Diwas” on Thursday, a day dedicated to promoting the language that is commemorated annually on this date.
“Best wishes to all my family members on the Hindi Diwas. I wish the Hindi language will continue to strengthen the thread of national unity and harmony,” he said on X.
मेरे सभी परिवारजनों को हिन्दी दिवस की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। मेरी कामना है कि हिन्दी भाषा राष्ट्रीय एकता और सद्भावना की डोर को निरंतर मजबूत करती रहेगी।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 14, 2023
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said Hindi has no competition with other Indian languages and will pave the path for the latter to become stronger as the nation is celebrating Hindi Diwas on Thursday.
Amit Shah said on the social networking platform X that the Hindi language had a singular impact on bringing the nation together during the trying times of the independence movement.
“Every indigenous language and dialect are treasure of our couture heritage. We can build an empowered nation only by empowering every language. I believe that Hindi will become a medium to empower and promote the regional languages. Hindi will pave the way to make regional languages stronger,” Amit Shah said in a video message posted on X.
हिंदी दिवस के अवसर पर मेरा संदेश… https://t.co/SVhPFu0Kra
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 14, 2023
The Union Minister explained the significance of Hindi during the country’s struggle for independence by claiming that the language fostered a sense of unity in a nation with numerous languages and dialects.
“Hindi, as a language of communication, played an important role in carrying forward the freedom struggle from East to West and North to South in the country. The movements for achieving ‘Swaraj’ and ‘Swabhasha’ were going on simultaneously in the country. Considering the important role of Hindi in the freedom movement and after independence, the architects of the Constitution had accepted Hindi as the official language on 14 September 1949,” he added.
All of our Indian languages and dialects are a part of our cultural legacy that we must preserve, Shah said.
Additionally, he asserted that Hindi has never competed with other Indian languages and never would, and he voiced his conviction that Hindi will serve as a platform for the advancement of other regional languages.
“All our Indian languages and dialects are our cultural heritage, which we have to carry with us,” he said.
Every year, on September 14, Hindi Diwas is celebrated. Following the declaration of Hindi as the official language of the Union of India, the day is devoted to the language.
September 14 was formally proclaimed to be the Hindi Diwas by Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister.
The Devanagari-written language of Hindi was designated as the official language of the Union of India by the Indian Constituent Assembly on September 14, 1949. The second official language is English.
The Indian Constitution officially recognized Hindi as the nation’s official language on January 26, 1950.
In Article 343 of the Indian Constitution, Hindi written in Devanagari is designated as the country’s official language.
The 1973 World Hindi Conference was the idea of the Rashtra Bhasha Prachar Samiti, Wardha. The event was held in Nagpur on January 10, 1975. Its objective was to make the language widely spoken. The conference was attended by 122 representatives in total from 30 countries.
The Union Home Minister added, however, that the Department of Official Language of the Ministry of Home Affairs is continuously working to enrich Indian languages in order to establish them as languages of public administration, education and scientific usage by using modern technology.
Shah continued by stating that the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language was established to review the work completed regarding the official language in the nation on a regular basis. It was given the duty to assess the advancements made in the use of Hindi in government work nationwide, prepare a report and present it to the President.
“I am happy to inform you that the 12th volume of this report has been presented to the President. Only 9 volumes of the report were submitted till 2014, but we have submitted 3 volumes in the last 4 years only. Since 2019, Hindi Advisory Committees have been formed in all 59 ministries and their meetings are also being organized regularly. From the point of view of increasing the use of official language in various areas of the country, a total of 528 Town Official Language Implementation Committees (TOLIC) have been formed so far. Even in foreign countries, Town Official Language Implementation Committees have been formed in London, Singapore, Fiji, Dubai and Port-Louis. India has also taken initiatives to promote the use of the Hindi language in the United Nations,” he added.
The Department of Official Language has begun a new tradition of hosting the ‘All India Official Language Conference,’ the Union Home Minister stated.
The first and second All India Official Language Conferences were held in Varanasi (13–14 November 2021) and Surat (14 September 2022) respectively.
“This year the third All India Official Language Conference is being organized in Pune,” he said.
