New Delhi (NVI): International Mother Language Day is being celebrated as Matribhasha Diwas in the country today with the Ministry of HRD leading the celebrations to promote the linguistic diversity of India.
The theme of the Day this year is ‘Celebrating our Multilingual Heritage’, reflecting the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat’.
International Mother Language Day is celebrated across the globe on February 21 to celebrate the linguistic diversity that exists in the world.
History
The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. It was approved at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference and has been observed throughout the world since 2000.
UNESCO has declared International Mother Language Day as a worldwide annual observance to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity, and to promote multilingualism.
UNESCO has identified over 7,000 languages that are used (read, written and spoken) in different countries across the world.
VP Naidu bats for Indian languages in governance
Yesterday, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu spoke in 22 languages at an event to mark Matribhasha Diwas, in New Delhi. He urged all the citizens to take a pledge to promote mother tongue and also learn other languages. On the occasion, the Vice President asserted that the usage of Indian languages can make governance in the country more people-centric.
He called for a national movement to promote Indian Languages in a big way, and said, “When we protect and promote mother tongues, we protect and promote linguistic and cultural diversity too.”
In a tweet today, Naidu said, “Indian languages must be made compulsory for recruitment up to a certain level in government jobs and local languages must be used in administration. I suggest making medium of instruction in local language mandatory up to high school level”.
He added, “the celebration of mother language, or matribhasha, shouldn’t end with the conclusion of the auspicious day, and instead, every day should be celebrated as Matribhasha Diwas or Mother Language Day.”
Union Cabinet Minister for Human Resource Development, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank also wished all Indians on the occasion and tweeted that language gives humans the basis of all creativity in life.
All Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools have been celebrating February 21 as ‘Matribhasha Diwas’ (Mother Language Day) for last three years.
