Navi Mumbai, Sep 14 — Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to Indian languages, stating that hearing the Prime Minister speak Hindi on global platforms fills the nation with pride.
He was speaking at the Hindi Diwas celebration and the 6th All India Official Language Conference organised in Navi Mumbai, an event attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Addressing the gathering, CM Fadnavis apologised for his late arrival before highlighting the significance of hosting the national convention in Maharashtra. He noted that while such conferences were once mere formalities, Home Minister Amit Shah spearheaded the effort to rotate them across different states.
Reflecting on language policy history, Fadnavis pointed out that Hindi was widely used for official work during the British era before both Hindi and English were designated as official languages in 1963. He stated that since PM Modi assumed office, mother tongues and official regional languages have received unprecedented respect across the country.
"You must learn your mother tongue, and the New Education Policy (NEP) ensures this by promoting education in local languages alongside additional Indian languages," CM Fadnavis said.
Recalling history, he noted that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then an opposition leader, was among the first to address the United Nations in Hindi. He added that writer Munshi Premchand played a pivotal role in making conversational Hindi acceptable for official work.
Addressing the conference, Home Minister Amit Shah emphasised the importance of regional languages, asserting that Marathi deserves deep respect. He highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration granted classical language status to Marathi.
HM Shah praised Maharashtra's diversity, describing it as the most multilingual state in India.
Quoting freedom fighter and social reformer Vinoba Bhave, he noted, "If I had not used Hindi, I could not have reached every village in Kashmir, Assam, and Kerala with the revolutionary message of Bhoodan and Gramdan. It was the official language that enabled me to communicate with people across the nation."
Reiterating the central government's focus on language preservation through the New Education Policy, the Home Minister emphasised that foundational learning in one's mother tongue is essential for a child's holistic growth.
Describing Maharashtra as the land of Veer Savarkar, he emphasised that Savarkar was not only a freedom fighter and social reformer but also one of the most learned linguists of his time. He built upon Lokmanya Tilak’s call for the purification of the Marathi language and coined numerous words that were previously absent in Indian languages—words that found natural acceptance in Marathi and other national languages.
HM Shah added that the Ministry of Home Affairs honoured Savarkar's linguistic legacy in Hindi through the 'Shabd Sindhu' initiative.