Political leaders across the country had varied reactions on this day.
Home Minister Amit Shah today spoke on Hindi Diwas Celebrations and the distribution of Rajbhasha Awards at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
Live: HM Shri @AmitShah speaks on Hindi Diwas Celebrations and distribution of Rajbhasha Awards at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. https://t.co/NLeINXjcjO
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) September 14, 2019
Earlier, he had tweeted, saying India is a land of different languages but it needs one language that can unite the country and represent the nation elsewhere in the world, suggesting that Hindi has the ability to become that language which unites the nation since it is widely spoken.
भारत विभिन्न भाषाओं का देश है और हर भाषा का अपना महत्व है परन्तु पूरे देश की एक भाषा होना अत्यंत आवश्यक है जो विश्व में भारत की पहचान बने। आज देश को एकता की डोर में बाँधने का काम अगर कोई एक भाषा कर सकती है तो वो सर्वाधिक बोले जाने वाली हिंदी भाषा ही है। pic.twitter.com/hrk1ktpDCn
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 14, 2019
The Home Minister was also conferred the Rajbhasha Award for 'outstanding contribution in promoting Hindi'.
गृहमंत्री अमित शाह ने हिंदी दिवस पर विभिन्न विभागों, मंत्रालयों और कार्यालयों के प्रमुखों को हिंदी को बढ़ावा देने में उत्कृष्ट योगदान के लिये राजभाषा पुरस्कार से सम्मानित किया। pic.twitter.com/leVeEAqOhB
— आकाशवाणी समाचार (@AIRNewsHindi) September 14, 2019
Political leaders across the country had varied reactions on this day.
My best wishes to all on #HindiDiwas. We should respect all languages and cultures equally. We may learn many languages but we should never forget our mother-language
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) September 14, 2019
MP Asaduddin Owaisi today said, "Hindi isn't every Indian's "mother tongue". Could you try appreciating the diversity & beauty of the many mother tongues that dot this land? Article 29 gives every Indian the right to a distinct language, script & culture. India's much bigger than Hindi, Hindu, Hindutva."
"On Hindi Diwas, I urge that efforts should be made to make the official language Hindi simpler. Every language is enriched by the experiences of human and its society. Language gives voice to our aspirations," the Vice President said in a series of tweets.
The Vice President said the interaction between Hindi and other languages should be encouraged.
"This will enrich the Hindi language with words and idioms from other Indian languages and further promote Hindi," he added.
Asserting that every language is praiseworthy and that literature of every Indian language is our cultural heritage, the Vice President said, "Our languages are the source of our cultural, emotional and national unity."
हर भाषा वंदनीय है, भारत की हर भाषा का साहित्य हमारी सांस्कृतिक विरासत है। हमारी भाषाएं हमारे साझा संस्कारों को अभिव्यक्ति देती हैं। हमारी भाषाएं हमारी सांस्कृतिक, भावनात्मक और राष्ट्रीय एकता का सूत्र हैं।
— VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) September 14, 2019
Greeting the country on the occasion of 'Hindi Diwas', Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Many congratulations to you all on the occasion of Hindi Diwas. The simplicity and decency of a language give meaning to the expression. Hindi has beautifully incorporated these aspects."
हिंदी दिवस पर आप सभी को बहुत-बहुत बधाई। भाषा की सरलता, सहजता और शालीनता अभिव्यक्ति को सार्थकता प्रदान करती है। हिंदी ने इन पहलुओं को खूबसूरती से समाहित किया है।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 14, 2019
Currently, India has 22 Scheduled languages, among which, two are officially used for government work - Hindi and English.
Hindi Diwas is celebrated on September 14 because the Constituent Assembly of India had adopted the language of Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, as the official language of India. If you are interested in knowing the glorious past behind this language, read along. If you need help for your poem, speech, essay, nibandh or any composition on the occasion of Hindi Diwas, look no further, for here are quotes, images and posters for Hindi Day aplenty.
With recent political developments, there have been several debates on the use of the language. Its history, too, is equally contentious with heated debates spanning across Assembly halls debating the issue before the decision to adopt it as the official language would come to fruition.
Here are a few other facts about the language:
1. Spoken by 250 million people
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Hindi is spoken by 250 million people as the original language and it is the fourth language of the world.
The Hindustani language originated from the Indo-Aryan division of the Indo-European language family. Mughals and Persian added their own flavour to Hindustani language, which eventually later developed into Urdu, while the Sanskrit flavour of the Hindustani language developed into Modern Standard Hindi.
2. Constituent Assembly adopts Hindi as official language in 1949
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After independence, one of the biggest questions that were raised in the country was regarding language, as the government set a goal to provide an idealised look to the mother tongue of the nation
In context to this, the Constituent Assembly was on December 6, 1946, elected to write the Constitution of India. The Assembly adopted the language of Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, as the official language of India. The decision was won over with one extra vote in favour of Hindi.
3. To honour Beohar Rajendra Simha's tireless efforts on his birthday
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To propose the importance of this decision and to spread Hindi in every region, on the request of Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti, Wardha, from 1953 on 14 September, India is celebrating every year Hindi Diwas.
Apart from this, 14 September is also the birthday of Beohar Rajendra Simha, who along with Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Kaka Kalelkar, Maithili Sharan Gupt and Seth Govind Das debated tirelessly in the Constituent Assembly and worked hard towards making Hindi the official language of India.
4. A glorious past
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An interesting fact about Hindi is that the word "Hindi" is Persian in origin (meaning: of the hind). The first ever 'Hindi' poem was written by the eminent Persian poet Amir Khusro.
In 1977, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the first External Affairs minister addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the first time in Hindi, making it a landmark moment for the nation.
Further back, at the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan in 1918, Mahatma Gandhi for the first time talked about making Hindi as the national language of India. He had also called Hindi the language of the public.
Awards are commemorations are declared in the language, and even a Bhasha Samman award has been launched to inspire people in learning Hindi. The award is given out on this day, the Hindi Diwas.
