President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday described Hindi as a link between the country’s ancient civilisation and modern progress and hoped that it will soon get recognition as the official language of the United Nations. Inaugurating ‘Hindi Divas’, the President said Hindi has achieved a number of milestones since Independence and it is credited to be the vehicle of Indian thought and culture.
“The language is also a link between our traditional knowledge, ancient civilisation and modern progress. Our efforts should be to increase the use of Hindi in science and technology, so that participation of all, including the rural population, can be ensured in the progress of the country,” he said after conferring awards to individuals and Government organisations for taking special efforts for promotion of Hindi.
Mukherjee said Hindi has its own imprint on the fast changing global economic scenario as millions of Indian diaspora around the world are using Hindi as a link language and this has given a new identification to Hindi at the international level. The President said it was essential that simple translation of literature pertaining to technical knowledge is made available in Hindi and other Indian languages.
The President congratulated the award winners for their commendable work in Hindi and urged everyone to come together to propagate the use of Hindi. Speaking on the occasion, Home Minister Rajnath Singh expressed concern over Hindi not getting prominence in various spheres of life the way it should have got.
“We have not given the kind of respect we should have given to Hindi. Some so called intellectuals still continue to try to promote English,” he said.
“75 per cent people in the country either speak Hindi or understand Hindi. In every village of the country, people either speak their mother tongue or Hindi, even if little. But they don’t know English.
Demand for making Hindi official language came first from non-Hindi speaking leaders like Bal Gangdadhar Tilak,” said the Home Minister.