On Thursday, 7 April, Union Home Minister Amit Shah urged that Indians from different states should interact in Hindi rather than English.
Shah, who the chairman of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee presided over the 37th meeting of the Committee, said that Hindi now accounts for 70% of the Union Cabinet’s agenda and when individuals from different states engage with one another, ‘it should be in India’s language,’
According to a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs quoting Mr. Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ascertained that Hindi will be the official language for operating the government, which will boost Hindi’s relevance.
He stated that the time had come to make the Official Language a significant aspect of the country’s unity and that when inhabitants of different states contact one another, it should be in the Indian language.
Mr. Shah believes that Hindi should be considered as an alternative to English rather than the local languages. He stated that Hindi will not spread unless we made it more flexible by incorporating vocabulary from various local languages.
He also claimed that 22,000 Hindi teachers had been hired in the North East’s eight states. In addition, nine indigenous communities in the North East have consented to convert their dialects’ scripts to Devanagari, and all eight North- Eastern states have agreed to make Hindi mandatory in schools up to Class X.
The committee unanimously recommended submitting the 11th volume of the committee’s report to the President, according to the ministry. Shah has long advocated for more use of Hindi by officials and the youth, claiming that the language is the primary reason India’s culture and value systems have survived.
Shah and the misunderstanding regarding Hindi language
On Hindi Diwas in 2019, he gave his first address on the language, promoting the concept of “One Nation, One Language.”
‘India is a country of many languages,’ he had remarked. ‘Every language is significant in its own right. However, it is critical that the entire country speak the same language, as this will serve as the nation’s global identity. Hindi is the most widely spoken language in the country, and it is the language that binds the entire country together.’
Opposition parties reacted angrily to the announcement. While the CPI(M) branded it as an attack on India’s essential diversity ideals, Congressman Rajeev Gowda reminded the BJP that Article 29 of the Constitution recognized many languages.
Ever since, Shah has subdued his support for the language, emphasizing that Hindi is not a competitor, but rather a compliment to various regional languages.
Published By : Ankit Singh
Edited By : Khushi Thakur
