'Hindi should be language of science, technology, justice and police': Amit Shah

Insisting that children must learn in their native tongues, the Union minister remarked, “This is very important for the child's future, as many psychologists and educationists have confirmed that a child thinks in his mother tongue."

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that there was no clash between Hindi and other Indian languages, while underlining that Hindi must evolve beyond being merely a spoken medium and take its place in the fields of science, technology, justice, and policing. He was speaking at the inauguration of the 5th Akhil Bharatiya Rajbhasha Sammelan in Gandhinagar.

He said, “Hindi is not just a spoken language or a language of administration. Hindi should also be the language of science, technology, justice and police. When all these works are done in Indian languages, then the connection with the public is automatically established.” Shah added that Sanskrit has provided “the Ganga of knowledge, and Hindi has taken this knowledge to every home, and that knowledge has reached every person through our local languages.”

Insisting that children must learn in their native tongues, the Union minister remarked, “This is very important for the child's future, as many psychologists and educationists have confirmed that a child thinks in his mother tongue. ... As soon as you impose a language other than the mother tongue on a child, 25 to 30 per cent of his mind's capacity will be spent in translating it.” He urged parents to always speak to their children in their mother tongue to preserve and make their languages “immortal.”

Citing Gujarat as an example where both Hindi and Gujarati have flourished together, Shah said, “There is no conflict between Hindi and other Indian languages. Learned men like Dayanand Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi, KM Munshi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and many others accepted Hindi and promoted it. Gujarat, where Gujarati and Hindi have coexisted, is an excellent example of the development of both languages.” He further stressed that leaders like Gandhi and Saraswati had worked to promote Hindi in every state.

Linking language with dignity and self-reliance, he noted, “One cannot aspire for independence and self-respect if the language of communication is not one's own.”

He also drew attention to the progress of Hindi Shabd Sindhu. “The Hindi Shabd Sindhu, which started with 51,000 words, has now crossed 7 lakh words, and by 2029, it will become the largest dictionary among all languages in the world,” he said. “I assure you that by 2029, this Hindi Shabd Sindu will become the largest dictionary among all languages of the world. Through this dictionary, we have also made Hindi flexible. Many Hindi scholars insist that Hindi should be Sanskrit-rich. No one has any objection to this. But the empty space has to be filled with Indian languages. Only then will Hindi feel familiar to all the people of India. And Hindi can be made a spoken language only when it becomes flexible.”

Speaking about the role of technology, the Home Minister said, “For this, we are using science and technology a lot.” He mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had strengthened local languages by encouraging their use through technological means. Shah pointed out that his ministry has created the Bhartiya Bhasha Anubhag (Indian Languages Department), which promotes Hindi along with other Indian languages.

Highlighting the application of advanced tools, he said, “Bahubhashi Anuvad Sarthi is being used for translations powered by advanced technology. By training this software, we will keep enriching it further, and in the coming days, the citizens of a country will be able to communicate in their own language through this.”

Shah reiterated that changes with time were necessary for the survival and growth of a language. “We have to make many such changes with time. Those who do not change with time become history. I believe that our language is history, it is the present as well as the future. And that is why the use of the experiment with Shabd Sindhu is to make Hindi very useful, flexible and useful for the masses,” he said.

With inputs from PTI