Amit Shah urges setting aside political differences to promote Indian languages

Amit Shah stresses cultural nationalism, promotion of Indian languages at Rajbhasha event

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called for setting aside all political differences to promote Indian languages, declaring that cultural nationalism means creating awareness about India's culture and history while maintaining unity in national sentiment despite the country's linguistic diversity.

Addressing the 6th All India Rajbhasha Sammelan, Shah asserted that a child can understand the country only through his or her mother tongue. He linked the promotion of Indian languages to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pledge of freeing the country from a "mindset of slavery".

Tilak's cultural nationalism as foundation

The Home Minister invoked Bal Gangadhar Tilak's understanding that awareness about the country's culture and history could be created through cultural nationalism. "Tilak started public Ganesh festivities and celebrations of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's birth anniversary, both festivals eventually spreading beyond Maharashtra, helping create a wave of patriotism during the freedom struggle," Shah said.

Drawing parallels with historical figures, Shah said Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had treated 'Swaraj', 'Swadharma' and 'Swabhasha' as integral parts of self-rule and had accorded importance to Marathi in governance.

Hindi Shabd Sindhu expansion and regional integration

Shah announced that 'Hindi Shabd Sindhu', which began with 51,000 words, had now grown to eight lakh words and expressed confidence that it would become the world's largest dictionary by 2029. More than 50,000 words from Indian regional languages had been incorporated into 'Hindi Shabd Sindhu' to fill gaps where Hindi lacked words.

The dictionary had accepted words from Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Odia, thereby making Hindi more flexible, the Minister said. He emphasized that Hindi should act as a means of communication and connection among India's languages rather than competition.

Maharashtra's multilingual character recognized

Shah said Maharashtra had the country's most multilingual culture, with Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Sindhi, Hindi, Kannada and Warli among the languages spoken and developed here. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accorded Marathi the status of a classical language.

The Home Minister shared that his knowledge of Hindi had helped him work across the country when his party assigned him a national-level responsibility. He also cited Vinoba Bhave, who had said the use of Hindi had enabled him to take the message of the Bhoodan-Gramdan movement nationwide.

Government initiatives for multilingual governance

Shah said the Rajbhasha department had developed the multilingual translation tool 'Bharati', while the government had set up 'Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhag'. He invited elected representatives to communicate with the Centre in Marathi, assuring them arrangements were in place for translation.

"The Union government wants to make Indian languages the language of governance and science," he said, adding that the aim is to enrich them through literature.

Mother tongue in examinations and education

The Minister pointed out that candidates can appear for examinations such as IAS and IPS in their mother tongue, while JEE, NEET and undergraduate exam were being conducted in 13 languages. "Political differences must be set aside to promote Indian languages. A child can understand India only through the mother tongue," Shah asserted.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi made imparting of primary education in one's mother tongue mandatory under National Education Policy (NEP)," Shah added. "The biggest work PM Modi has done is that, under NEP, he has made learning in mother tongue compulsory and also made learning another Indian language mandatory. Those opposing NEP provision of learning one more Indian language apart from mother tongue do not know what sin they are committing," he said.

Training programs and digital resources

Shah said more than five lakh Central government employees had undergone language training, while AI-based 'Kanthasth 2.0' had been made available to foreigners with more than five crore sentences. 'Leela Rajbhasha' and 'Leela Pravah' had been developed as language-learning resources.

He said nine volumes had so far been prepared by Rajbhasha Committee, and five of them would be dedicated during the Modi government's tenure. Shah said the government had been taking the Rajbhasha conference to different states since 2019 instead of restricting it to Delhi.

Publications and awards

Several publications were released during the event, including 'Rajbhasha Bharati' (Vande Mataram special issue) and 'Vande Mataram Ke 150 Adhyay'. The 'Hindi Shabd Sindhu' digital resource and training in Hindi typing and shorthand were also launched, while 'Rajbhasha Kirti' and 'Rajbhasha Gaurav' awards were presented.

Vande Mataram restored to full glory

Speaking on Vande Mataram, Shah said it took 80 years to restore full glory of the national song. "Vande Mataram is not merely a song but an effort to awaken Indian consciousness to get freedom. It laid the foundation of India's cultural nationalism," he said.

"The song was later split and it took decades to restore it to glory," Shah said referring to an old decision to just sing the first two stanzas at official events. "Vande Mataram regained its glory and began to be sung in full at all government functions because India got a prime minister like Narendra Modi," he said.

Modi's commitment to Indian languages globally

Shah said Modi had consistently delivered speeches in Hindi or other Indian languages at major international forums. This commitment, according to the Home Minister, reflects the government's dedication to promoting Indian languages on the global stage.

Unity in diversity of languages

Citing Rabindranath Tagore, Shah compared Indian culture and literature to a many-petalled lotus, with each regional language forming a petal. "Languages could remain many, but the sentiment should remain Indian and India's voice should remain one," the Union Minister asserted.

The emphasis throughout the address was on the need to preserve and promote India's linguistic diversity while maintaining a unified national identity, with cultural nationalism serving as the binding force. Shah's vision articulated at the event positions Indian languages not just as tools of communication but as fundamental elements of national consciousness and self-determination, drawing from historical precedents set by freedom fighters and applying them to contemporary governance and education frameworks.

Source: The Hindu