Dear fellow citizens,

Warm greetings to all of you on the occasion of Hindi Diwas!

Our country is a unique land of linguistic diversity and rich cultural heritage. Many people say that the fact that we have different languages is a weakness, but I believe that having so many languages is our greatest strength. Every language carries with it a history, folk traditions and a distinct worldview, which also help carry forward the values and cultural ethos of our younger generations. This linguistic plurality strengthens the spirit of ‘Unity in Diversity’ that defines India. Language is not merely a means of communication; it is the memory of a society and its sense of self.

Amid this diversity, Hindi has played an important role as a language of dialogue, communication and coordination, bringing together people from different sections and communities across the country. The development of Hindi can truly be meaningful only when it progresses alongside the respect, preservation and promotion of all Indian languages. Hindi is not a competitor to any language; rather, it is an important link for fostering a sense of affinity and dialogue among Indian languages and strengthening national unity. The most beautiful testimony to this truth lies in our own history. Swami Dayanand Saraswati Ji was a native Gujarati speaker, yet he wrote Satyarth Prakash in Hindi. Mahatma Gandhi established the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha in Madras in 1918. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was a Bengali speaker, yet he adopted Hindi as the language of communication of the Azad Hind Fauj and gave the nation the inspiring slogan ‘Jai Hind’. Thus, people from diverse linguistic backgrounds have made the greatest contribution towards making Hindi a language of communication among the people. The immense contribution of these great personalities, whose mother tongue was never Hindi, remains a source of inspiration for all of us.

My own mother tongue is also Gujarati, but whenever I travel to any part of the country, the language that directly connects me with the common people there is Hindi. If we look at the journey of Hindi, we can see reflected in it the journey of the entire nation. From the Padavali of Vidyapati in the Adikal period and the heroic ballads of Prithviraj Raso, to the remarkable era of the Bhakti period—when Tulsidas Ji took the story of Lord Rama to every household and Surdas Ji gave a voice to the tender expression of parental affection.

During the freedom movement, the ideals of Swaraj, Swadeshi and Swabhasha infused new energy into the national consciousness. Our freedom fighters, too, had realised that the vision of Swaraj would remain incomplete without pride in our own language and identity. After Independence, Indian languages became the means of nation-building, governance and taking the development to every citizen. Hindi, along with all other Indian languages, played an important role in spreading the message of social awakening, national unity and the idea of freedom to every section of society. Carrying forward this rich legacy, the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi as the Official Language of the Union of India on 14 September 1949. However, a paradox also emerged after Independence. While we attained political freedom, the values of our own language, our own culture and our self-respect were pushed to the margins.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji, from the Red Fort, called upon the nation to free itself from this mindset of colonialism, and language has a pivotal role to play in this. The transformation of Rajpath into Kartavya Path was not merely a change of name. Replacing the colonial, punishment-oriented laws enacted by the British with three people-centric laws—the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam—was not merely a change in terminology. It represents the restoration of our national self-pride.

Today, the National Education Policy places the mother tongue at the centre of education. Engineering and medical education is being imparted in Indian languages, and competitive examinations are being conducted in multiple Indian languages.

On the occasion of the 80^th Independence Day, the Prime Minister, from the Red Fort, called for ‘Saptadhara of Shakti’—the seven streams of strength—for building a Viksit Bharat. The seventh stream is India’s soft power. The greatest carrier of any nation’s soft power is its language. Yoga, Ayurveda, literature, cinema and our cultural strength—all reach the world through our languages.

There was once a concern that in the age of technology, Indian languages might be left behind. However, under the Modi Government, Hindi, along with all other Indian languages, is witnessing a golden era of technological advancement.

The ‘Bharati’ tool, an Artificial Intelligence-based tool developed by the Department of Official Language, is making communication among Indian languages more seamless today. The ‘Hindi Shabd Sindhu’, a digital dictionary with more than 8.27 lakh entries, has emerged as a rich platform for knowledge sharing. The ‘Indian Language Section’, established in 2024, is facilitating administrative communication in Indian languages. AI and translation technologies have brought down the barriers of language. Today, every Indian can think in their own language and communicate with the entire world. At the same time, during the tenure of the Modi Government, the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language has submitted four new volumes of its reports to the Hon’ble President.

At the end, I would like to say something to the youth. Learn as many languages of the world as you can, but never abandon your own language. I would also urge all parents across the country to make it a point to communicate with your children in their mother tongue. There can be no greater inferiority complex than the thought, “If I speak in my own language, I will be considered inferior.”

Language is what connects us with our mother, our soil, our history and our culture. This year also marks the 150th anniversary of the composition of the national song, ‘Vande Mataram’—a song that transformed language into a weapon of freedom.

Let us, on this occasion, resolve to make Hindi and all Indian languages powerful instruments in our journey towards building a Viksit Bharat by 2047.

Once again, my heartfelt greetings to all of you on Official Language Day. Vande Mataram!

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