Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Hindi should not be viewed as a rival to other Indian languages, but as their companion, stressing that languages must be seen as partners in nation-building.
"I always say that Hindi is not a competition to Indian languages. Hindi is a friend of Indian languages. There are no conflicts between them," Amit Shah said in his Hindi Diwas address.
Citing Gujarat as an example, he said the state, though not Hindi-speaking, embraced the language without losing its own identity. "The state language is Gujarati. But from the beginning, leaders like Dayananda Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and KM Munshi accepted Hindi, promoted it, and Gujarat became a brilliant example of the development of both Hindi and Gujarati together," he added.
The Home Minister underlined that India has always been a "language-driven nation", with diverse tongues shaping its culture and history. "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," he said.
Even during colonial rule, Amit Shah said, languages became the voice of resistance. "Slogans like 'Vande Mataram' and 'Jai Hind' emerged from this linguistic consciousness and became enduring symbols of national pride," he noted.
On the government's efforts, Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led a "golden era of revival" of Indian languages and culture. He highlighted the creation of the Indian Languages Division in 2024 to ensure seamless translation across major languages, adding that the aim was to make Hindi and Indian languages "the pillars of technology, science, justice, education and administration."
"In this era of Digital India, e-governance, artificial intelligence and machine learning, Indian languages are being developed into a force that will position India at the forefront of global competition," Shah said.
Quoting poet Vidyapati - "Desil bayna sab jan miththa" (one's own language is always the sweetest) - the Home Minister urged citizens to honour Hindi along with all Indian languages and move forward "with unity, self-reliance and confidence."
Observed every year on September 14, Hindi Diwas commemorates the adoption of Hindi as one of India's official languages. The date holds historical importance, as in 1949, the Constituent Assembly reached a consensus on the official language framework during the drafting of the Constitution.
