Navi Mumbai: All political differences must be set aside to promote Indian languages, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday, September 14, while asserting that a child can understand the country only through his or her mother tongue.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 6th All India Rajbhasha Sammelan in Mumbai on Hindi Diwas, he said the Union government wants to make Indian languages the language of governance and science, adding that the aim is to enrich languages of the country through literature.
“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 primary education in one’s mother tongue mandatory under the National Education Policy (NEP), Shah added.
‘Hindi should not be seen as competition’
“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.
Shah said Hindi should not be seen as a competition to other languages of the country and pointed out that all languages are connected. Hindi is the bearer of the country’s linguistic unity and national consciousness, he said.
Hailing Maharashtra as the only multi-lingual state in the country, Shah said it is a place where all languages have flourished and are respected.
He also pointed out that the Modi government accorded ‘Classical Language’ status to Marathi.
‘Took 80 years to restore full glory of Vande Mataram’
Speaking on Vande Mataram, Shah said it took 80 years to restore its full glory.
“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.
“Cultural nationalism means to create awareness of culture and history. Awakening of people’s consciousness about culture and history can be brought about only through cultural nationalism,” Shah said.
Vande Mataram once again got its glory and began to be sung in full at all government functions because India got a prime minister like Narendra Modi, he said.
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