‘It’s time to embrace the new lingua franca, Hindi’
HYDERABAD: Addressing students at the 16th annual convocation of Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha (DBHPS), an organisation meant to promote Hindi in the southern states of India, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said it is important to know Hindi as the language is spoken and understood by majority of Indians. Naidu called upon the youngsters belonging to the non-Hindi speaking states to embrace the emerging “lingua franca” of the nation.
He said that he realised the importance of Hindi only after he entered the national political sphere. “Railway station and Post office were the only two places where Hindi was then used in my village. Without knowing the premise of the strike (a protest opposing Hindi during his student days), I barged into their offices shouting down-down,” he said to a chortling audience.
“Without Hindi, you cannot communicate to the civil administration or the Central government officials. Speaking to the people of North-Indian states becomes further difficult. I am not forcing the language upon you but persuading you because the language is spoken widely,” he added.
H Hanumantappa, Vice -President, DBHPS, Chennai, came up with an interesting point when he said that since Hindi is being promoted in South India, so should be the South Indian languages be promoted in the North.
“Indignation of South Indian languages is high. There should be a balance brought through to reduce the divide between people, and the North Indian states can learn some South Indian languages,” he said.
What’s DBHPS
DBHPS is recognised by the Indian Parliament to be an institution of National Importance through an Act enacted in 1964. It came into existence in 1918, established after a need to have a unifying language to strengthen the freedom struggle was seen fit by Mahatma Gandhi.