Union Home Minister Amit Shah has credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s multiple addresses in the Hindi language for India’s successful tackling of COVID-19. Modi’s address to the nation 35 times in India’s official language created a “conducive atmosphere” for united fight and limiting the damage to minimum during the pandemic, Shah said at an event held in the national capital to mark the ‘Hindi Diwas.‘ Shah also urged the people to take a pledge to use Hindi along with their respective mother tongue.

Also Read: How is the World Hindi Day different from the Hindi Diwas

He said being ‘atmanirbhar’ or self-reliant was not just about producing goods within the country. “We’ve to be ‘Atmanirbhar’ even with languages. If PM can speak Hindi internationally, what are we embarrassed about? Gone are the days when speaking in Hindi was a matter of concern,’’ Shah said.

Shah said the Modi government is committed to the parallel development of Hindi and other Indian languages as “language is the most powerful medium to express emotion.” In a tweet in Hindi, Modi also extended greetings on the occasion of Hindi Diwas and said the language was “continuously creating a strong identity for itself on the global stage” due to the efforts of its speakers.

Hindi Diwas is celebrated on September 14 every year to mark the Constituent Assembly of India’s adoption of Hindi as the official language of the Republic of India on the day in 1949. 

Hindi was declared as official language in the Constitution of India on January 26, 1950. 

While the Indian Constitution recognises a total of 22 languages, Hindi and English are India’s two official languages to ease administrative affairs in a country where people speak hundreds of languages and their local dialects.

The first Hindi Day was celebrated on September 14, 1953.