World Hindi Day: Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages, not only in India, but also in the world. Today, January 10, is observed as Vishwa Hindi Diwas (World Hindi Day). It was first observed in 2006 by then-Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. In 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over, the government made significant attempts to take Hindi, which is an official language of the Indian Government, to the world stage while also giving it domestic encouragement.
Let’s take a look at the instances when the Modi government put Hindi on to the world stage
PM Modi’s addresses at United Nations
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after being elected to office for the first time in 2014, addressed the United Nations General Assembly in September 2014, and 2015 in Hindi, marking a paradigm shift in the approach to speaking Hindi on a world platform like the UN.
In 2016, 2017 and 2018, the then External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj addressed the United Nations General Assembly in Hindi. She had attacked Pakistan over the issue of terrorism saying India is engaged in fighting poverty but its neighbour Pakistan seems engaged in fighting with New Delhi. It was
In 2019, PM Modi addressed the Climate Action Summit 2019 during the 74th session of UNGA in Hindi. In 2020 and 2021, he again addressed the UNGA in the native language, in yet another bid to establish Hindi on the world stage.
In 2021, he chaired the UNSC high-level open debate on Enhancing Maritime Security in August and addressed in Hindi. This was the first time that an Indian Prime Minister would be presiding over a meeting of the UN Security Council.
India contributes USD 1 million to UN for promotion of Hindi language
In July 2023, India contributed USD 1 million to the United Nations as part of a voluntary contribution to the United Nations to promote the use of the Hindi language in the world organisation and to foster inclusive dialogue and understanding, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said in July last year. Kamboj handed over the cheque of USD 1 million to Under Secretary General of the United Nations Department of Global Communications Melissa Fleming. She said the Indian government will continue to promote the use of the Hindi language in the United Nations. According to a press release issued by the Permanent Mission of India, the amount was given to the UN towards the expansion of usage of the Hindi language in the United Nations.
Hindi in front of Donald Trump at ‘Howdy Modi’
In September 2019, when PM Modi visited the United States and attended an event ‘Howdy Modi’ in front of a massive crowd of Indian diaspora, he addressed them in Hindi. Notably, the event was also attended by then-US President Donald Trump.
Hindi at G20 Summit in New Delhi in 2023
India hosted the G20 Summit in New Delhi last year in which several world leaders participated including US President Joe Biden. PM Modi addressed the opening ceremony in Hindi.
Centre’s ‘democratic language’ push for Hindi
Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Hindi unites the diversity of languages in the world’s largest democracy and termed Hindi as a “democratic language”. “It has honoured different Indian languages and dialects as well as many global languages and adopted their vocabularies, sentences and grammar rules. Hindi language played an unprecedented role in uniting the country during the difficult days of the independence movement. It instilled a feeling of unity in a country divided into many languages and dialects. Hindi, as a language of communication, played an important role in carrying forward the freedom struggle from East to West and North to South in the country. In my opinion, simple and clear words of Hindi should be used in office work,” he had said.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh had earlier said that the use of Hindi has increased in all government departments including scientific departments and institutions across the country, while also emphasising that the efforts of the Prime Minister in promoting Hindi all over the world has been an inspiration for all and has increased the popularity of Hindi internationally.
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said in 2020 that the Central government is making all efforts to promote the use of Hindi in politics and diplomacy and raise the stature of the language globally.
Last year, on the occasion of Hindi Diwas, PM Modi extended greetings and said, “I wish the Hindi language will continue to strengthen the thread of national unity and harmony”.
However, the government’s push for the Hindi language also triggered objections and protests by some sections in the political corridors. In a bid to settle the debate, PM Modi spoke on the issue of language row in May 2022 and said that the BJP sees a reflection of Indian culture in every regional language and considers them worth worshipping. "In the past few days, we have seen that attempts are being made to spark controversies on the basis of languages. BJP sees a reflection of Indian culture in every regional language and considers them worth worshipping. We have given importance to every regional language in the National Education Policy (NEP)," PM Modi had said.
Notably, the Constituent Assembly had declared Hindi to be the official language of the Union of India on September 14, 1949.
