Home Minister Amit Shah, in his virtual address on Hindi Diwas, said that Hindi is not in competition with other Indian languages. Rather, it is a link that strengthens dialogue between different languages and national unity.
He said that India’s linguistic diversity is not a weakness, but the country’s greatest strength. Shah said that BJP-led NDA governments will implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in 21 states before 2029.
5 key points from Shah’s speech
1. Role of Indian languages after independence: Shah said that after independence, Indian languages became the medium for taking nation-building, administration and development to ordinary people. Hindi, along with all Indian languages, advanced the ideals of public awakening, national unity and freedom.
2. Hindi connects directly with ordinary people: The Home Minister said, “My mother tongue is Gujarati. But wherever I go in any corner of the country, Hindi is the language that connects directly with ordinary people there.”
3. Non-Hindi-speaking icons also contributed: Shah said Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s mother tongue was Gujarati, yet he wrote “Satyarth Prakash” in Hindi. Mahatma Gandhi established the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha in Madras in 1918. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was a Bengali speaker, yet he made Hindi the language of communication in the Azad Hind Fauj and gave the country the slogan “Jai Hind.”
4. Reference to freedom from colonial mindset: The Home Minister said that Prime Minister Modi had called for freedom from the colonial mindset from the Red Fort, and that language plays an important role in achieving this freedom.
5. Linked legal changes to national self-respect: Shah further said that changing Rajpath to Kartavya Path was not merely a change of name. The criminal laws made by the British were replaced with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. This was not just a change of words, but a restoration of national self-respect and pride.
Hindi Day observed on September 14
Hindi Day is observed every year on September 14. On September 14, 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi in the Devanagari script as the official language of the Union.
