‘Language is the soul of a nation, not merely a medium of communication,' says Union Minister Amit Shah
"As far as the country is concerned, language is not merely a medium of communication; it is the soul of a nation. History and culture cannot be promoted without our own languages. It is important to keep the languages alive and to enrich them. We should make all these efforts in the coming days for all Indian languages and especially for the official language," he said.
Speaking at the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Official Language Department in Delhi, Mr. Shah said that Hindi was a friend of all the Indian languages, further stating that Hindi and Indian languages together could play an important role in enhancing the nation's self-esteem.
"I believe from my heart that Hindi cannot be the enemy of any Indian language. Hindi is a friend of all Indian languages, and Hindi and Indian languages together can take our self-esteem program to its ultimate goal. There is no opposition to any language; there should not be opposition to any foreign language, but the insistence should be to glorify our language, there should be an insistence to speak our language, and there should be an insistence to think in our language," he stated.
Praising Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhag (Indian Languages Section), Mr. Shah said that only Indian languages are used for Centre as well States' administrative work.
'I want to appeal to all States to make arrangements so that medical and engineering courses could be taught in the language of the States. In the coming days, Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhag will take steps to make Indian languages the language of the youth. We will contact States to ensure that maximum administrative work is done in Indian languages,' Mr. Shah said.
Mr. Shah also said that the country as a whole needs to get rid of the mentality of slavery. "We should get rid of the mentality of slavery. And until a person takes pride in his language, does not express himself in his language, we cannot be free from the mentality of slavery..." he added.
The Minister highlighted the government's achievements in making sure students could give competitive examinations in multiple Indian languages. "JEE, NEET, CUET are now being taken in 13 languages. Earlier, you could only apply for the constable recruitment of CAPF in English or Hindi. We made it flexible and allowed the exam in 13 languages, and today I am happy to say that 95% of the candidates are giving the constable exam in their mother tongue. This tells how bright the future of Indian languages is in the coming days..."
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was also present at the event.
(with inputs from ANI)
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