While inaugurating the 10th Vishwa Hindi Sammelan (World Hindi Conference) at lal Parade Ground on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on the need for concerted efforts to promote and enrich Hindi and said that the language, along with English and Chinese, “will be influential in the digital world in the coming days”. “Three languages will be influential in digital world in the coming days — English, Chinese and Hindi,” he said.
Stating that, “if we forget Hindi, it will be a loss to the country”, Modi also called for steps to be taken to preserve endangered languages as he pointed at concerns among language scholars that 90 per cent of the 6,000 languages world-over would faced the risk of becoming relics from the past.
The PM spoke about how he has witnessed the growing prominence of Hindi in the countries he has visited and acknowledged the role of Hindi movies in promoting the language overseas. He pointed to how leaders such as the US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin were uttering sabka saath, sabka vikas in Hindi and said that even Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had conveyed his greetings in Hindi for a festival.
Modi also recalled his days as a tea seller in Gujarat and said he had learnt Hindi while selling tea to traders of Uttar Pradesh who would travel to Gujarat to buy buffaloes. “We must continuously strive to bring prosperity to our language,” the Prime Minister said.
Responding to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s acerbic remark on Modi’s promises as hawabaazi, the PM termed the Congress hawalabaaz. He said “scamsters are unnerved” due to the tough stance of the Government on black money and are putting “roadblocks” in the reforms agenda. Addressing BJP workers, Modi said that the Congress was resorting to “disruptive tactics” as it was not being able to come to terms with its defeat in the 2014 lok Sabha polls.
lambasting the Opposition party for obstructing key reforms like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in Parliament, Modi said, “They did not let Parliament work... the hawalabaaz are troubled by law passed against black money.”
“I wonder whether there is a place for an attitude of confrontation due to sheer arrogance in a democracy. I had publicly appealed to the party, which has been defeated and has been rejected by the people, to allow Parliament to function. While the world is facing a huge economic crisis, India is standing on its feet. Today the country has a never before opportunity to move forward. let us not waste it,” he said.
Holding the Congress responsible for the recent parliamentary logjam, Modi said, “A gang of hawalabaaz (corrupt) is creating obstructions in democratic process because the ground beneath their feet was sinking. I know what is bothering them. It’s the law on black money.”
“We thought the political rivals will respect the verdict and that tempers may cool down and Parliament will eventually work and important decision be taken. Senior ministers were in touch with Opposition parties and except one (the Congress) all felt Parliament should function,’’ Modi said accusing the Congress of being arrogant.
Modi said the BJP introspected the 1984 results when it had just two members, and all, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lost the election. “Though the 1984 result was considered a tribute to Indira Gandhi, we didn’t criticise anyone and instead sought counsel. We kept trying and after 30 years we formed a Government with a clear majority. The Congress which once had 400 members is now down to 40,” Modi said recalling as how former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi used to make fun of us.