Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said Hindi should not be seen as competing with other Indian languages but as a medium that can also carry science, technology, justice, and policing to the people. Speaking at the 5th Akhil Bharatiya Rajbhasha Sammelan, Shah urged that Hindi, along with other Indian languages, be made a part of every sphere of life.
“There is no conflict between Hindi and other Indian languages,” Shah said, citing leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Dayanand Saraswati, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and KM Munshi, who supported and promoted Hindi. “Gujarat is a great example, where Gujarati and Hindi have coexisted and developed together,” he added.
He stressed that Hindi must go beyond being a spoken tongue. “Hindi should also be the language of science, technology, justice and police. When all these works are done in Indian languages, the connection with the public is automatically established,” Shah said.
The Union Minister also highlighted the importance of mother tongues in education. “Parents must always speak to their children in their mother tongue. A child thinks in that language, and when another language is imposed, 25 to 30 per cent of the mind’s capacity goes into translation,” he said, quoting educationists and psychologists.
Shah credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with strengthening regional languages through technology and said the Home Ministry had set up the Bhartiya Bhasha Anubhag to promote both Hindi and other Indian languages. “We are also using advanced technology like Bahubhashi Anuvad Sarthi for translations. This will allow citizens to communicate in their own languages,” he explained.
On Hindi’s evolution, Shah pointed to the expansion of the Hindi Shabd Sindhu, which grew from 51,000 to over seven lakh words. “By 2029, this will become the largest dictionary among all languages in the world,” he said.
He also stressed flexibility in Hindi, saying it should be enriched not only with Sanskrit but with words from other Indian languages. “Only then will Hindi feel familiar to everyone across India. Those who do not change with time become history. Our language is history, the present, and the future,” Shah concluded.
