Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday seemed to advocate a wider official use of Hindi, saying it should become the language of science, technology, the judiciary and police.
Shah, however, added that Hindi should not be seen as a rival to other Indian languages but as their “companion” — a point he has tended to make earlier, too, whenever his advocacy of Hindi has attracted controversy.
His latest remarks come amid a political storm over the Centre’s three-language formula for schools that Tamil Nadu has rejected as an attempt to smuggle in Hindi “through the backdoor”. Maharashtra, too, recently witnessed protests against “Hindi imposition”.
“Hindi is the companion of (other) Indian languages and there is no conflict between Hindi and other Indian languages,” Shah told the inaugural session of the fifth Akhil Bharatiya Rajbhasha Sammelan in Gandhinagar on Hindi Divas, celebrated every September 14.
“Hindi should not remain just a language of conversation and administration, but should also become the language of science, technology, justice, and policing.”
Shah underscored how Gujarat, though not a Hindi-speaking state, had embraced the language without losing its identity. As a result, he argued, a person from Gujarat could go anywhere in the country and easily conduct business or gain social acceptance.
“In Gujarat, scholars like Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and K.M. Munshi accepted Hindi and also promoted it,” he said.
“Mahatma Gandhi used to say that Hindi is the language that keeps the nation united. He said that Sanskrit gave us the river of knowledge, Hindi carried that knowledge into every home, and (the various Indian) mother tongues spread it to every individual.”
Shah went on to highlight India’s linguistic and cultural diversity and emphasise the importance of the various Indian languages. He said parents must always speak to their children in their mother tongue.
“From Bihu in Assam to Vidyapati’s verses in Bihar, Baul hymns in Bengal and Bhupen Hazarika’s songs in the Northeast, Indian languages have kept our cultural fabric inclusive and vibrant,” the home minister said.
He underlined how his ministry had established a Bhartiya Bhasha Anubhag under the department of official languages to not just strengthen Hindi but also support and promote other Indian languages.
Shah had in June attracted criticism from linguists, academics and Opposition leaders for claiming that “those who speak English in this country would soon feel ashamed”.
Although he had spoken in favour of all Indian languages and did not mention Hindi, the critics argued that shunning English would leave the country without a link language — a vacuum Hindi would then be left to fill.