To ensure a rightful place for Hindi in the United Nations, India will hold its 12th World Hindi Conference in Fiji from February 15 to 17. Particular emphasis on links with the Pacific region.
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Fiji to host the 12th World Hindi Conference
Saurabh Kumar, a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs said on Saturday, “India is working to ensure a rightful place for Hindi in the United Nations.” He announced that the 12th World Hindi Conference will be held in Fiji from 15th February to 17th February. The conference is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in India with the government of Fiji.
Mr Kumar said, “we have achieved limited progress at the United Nations regarding Hindi. The UN has made a provision to provide all important messages and press releases in Hindi. This provision has also been made for Bangla and Urdu. We will make efforts to ensure a rightful place for Hindi at the UN.”
The upcoming conference to be held in Fiji would provide an opportunity for India to highlight the important linkages between India and the Pacific Ocean region where Hindi-speaking people from the Gangetic belt and other parts of India were taken during the 19th century. The government of India has also selected a delegation of 270 academics, experts and Hindi writers who would participate in the conference in Fiji.
Hindi- Traditional Knowledge to Artificial Intelligence
The first World Hindi Conference was held in 1975 in Nagpur, India. Since then, 11 such conferences have been organized in different parts of the world. The 11th conference was held in 2018 in Mauritius. This year’s theme will be “Hindi – Traditional Knowledge to Artificial Intelligence”. The venue of the conference is Denarau Island Convention Center, Nadi, Fiji.
Mr Kumar said, “140 years ago, thousands of Indians were taken to Fiji during the colonial period as labourers and today their descendants residing in Fiji are proud of their Indian heritage and language.” “This year’s conference is a tribute to those forefathers,” he added.
Events to be held at World Hindi Conference
According to the information presented on the Vishwa Hindi Samelan website. The conference location will have several exhibitions focused on the advancement of the Hindi language. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi, is also proposing to arrange cultural programmes like Kavi Sammelan during the Conference.
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations will publish a special edition of “Gagananchal” that is devoted to the Conference. Similarly to this, it is anticipated that other academic and linguistic organisations will publish special versions of Hindi literature they have produced.
As in the past, during the Conference, Hindi scholars from India and other nations will be recognised for their exceptional contributions to the area of Hindi by receiving the “Vishwa Hindi Samman.” The Ministry is holding a “LOGO” design competition with Rs. 75,000 cash prize for creating an appropriate “Logo” for the 12th World Hindi Conference.
The inauguration of the event will be done by Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and India’s external affairs minister S. Jaishankar. The Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji Biman Parsad will address the gathering. Prasad had recently visited India. He also described this conference as “historic and appropriate.”
Mr Prasad said, “ Fiji is probably the only country outside India that has Hindi as an official language. It is being taught from primary to secondary schools and is offered as a language to students in universities. The new coalition government has just announced that Hindi, English, as well as the indigenous languages, will be spoken in the Parliament.”
