 Early Times Report
NEW DELHI, Sept 14: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday extended Hindi Diwas greetings, and asked everyone to respect all Indian languages and move forward towards a self-reliant, self-confident and developed country.
Shah noted that from the heights of the Himalayas to the vast beaches of the South, from the desert to the rugged forests and village ‘chaupalas’, languages have shown the way to a man in every situation to stay organised and move forward unitedly through communication and expression.
He also said that the greatest strength of India’s languages is that they have provided every class and community with an opportunity for expression.
“Our country is fundamentally a language-oriented nation. Our languages have been a powerful medium for carrying forward culture, history, traditions, knowledge, science, philosophy, and spirituality from generation to generation,” he said in a message on the occasion of Hindi Diwas.
Extending Hindi Diwas greetings, the home minister said he firmly believed that languages, by becoming companions of one another and bound in the thread of unity, were moving forward together.
“On this occasion of Hindi Diwas, let us respect all Indian languages, including Hindi, and move forward towards a self-reliant, self-confident and developed India,” he said.
Shah said “walk together, think together, and speak together” has been the core mantra of India’s linguistic-cultural consciousness.
He said the songs of Bihu in the Northeast, the voice of Oviyalu in Tamil Nadu, the songs of Lohri in Punjab, the verses of Vidyapati in Bihar, the hymns of Baul saints in Bengal, Kajri songs, and Bhikari Thakur’s ‘Bidesia’ – all these have kept the country’s culture vibrant and welfare-oriented.
The home minister said Saint Thiruvalluvar’s verses are sung with as much devotion in the South as he is read with interest in the North and Krishnadevaraya was as popular in the South as he was in the North.
“The patriotic compositions of Subramania Bharati ignite national pride in the youth of every region. Goswami Tulsidas is revered by every Indian, and the couplets of Saint Kabir are found in translations in Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam,” he said.
Shah said Surdas’s poetry remains prevalent in the temples and musical traditions of South India even today.
“Srimanta Sankardeva and Mahapurush Madhavdeva of Assam are known to every Vaishnav, and Bhupen Hazarika’s songs are hummed even by the youth of Haryana,” he said.
The home minister said even during the difficult period of slavery, Indian languages became the voice of resistance.
“Our languages played a significant role in making the freedom movement a nationwide endeavour. Our freedom fighters connected the languages of the regions and villages with the freedom struggle,” he said. |
