New Delhi (NVI): The 20th International Mother Language Day will be observed on February 21, 2020 as the UNESCO-recognised event seeks to celebrate the linguistic diversity in the world.
The Indian government will also be celebrating ‘Matribhasha Diwas’ across the country. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will be the chief guest at the main event to be organised in Delhi by the Human Resource and Development Ministry (MHRD). The theme of the event is ‘Celebrating our Multilingual Heritage’ reflecting the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat.
Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal will be the Guest of Honour on the occasion. MoS, Ministry of Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel and MoS, HRD Sanjay Dhotre will also grace the occasion.
MHRD along with educational institutions and language institutions is celebrating the Matribhasha Diwas for the past three years.
This year also the educational institutions will organize various activities like elocution, debating, singing and essay writing competitions etc as well as events exploring the cognitive, economic, social and cultural activities of multilingual society. Exhibitions depicting linguistic and diverse wealth of India in at least two languages will also be organised.
‘International Mother Language Day’ was conceptualised and approved in 1999, the event was a result of an initiative by Bangladesh to celebrate the many languages and cultures found around the world.
Yet, due to globalisation processes, they are increasingly under threat, or disappearing altogether. UNESCO believes that when languages fade, so does the world’s rich tapestry of cultural diversity.
