WORLD HINDI DAY AND NATIONAL HINDI DIWAS

WORLD HINDI DAY AND

NATIONAL HINDI DIWAS

World Hindi Day is celebrated on January 10 every year. National Hindi Diwas is celebrated every year on September 14. On that day in 1949, the constituent assembly adopted Hindi, written in Devanagari script, as the official language of the Union. World Hindi Day is celebrated on January 10 every year, marking the anniversary of first World Hindi Conference which was held in 1975 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.Since 1975, the World Hindi Conference has been organised in different countries like India, Mauritius, United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, United States.World Hindi Day and National Hindi Diwas are completely different.

While the focus of the World Hindi Day is to promote the language at the global stage, the National Hindi Diwas, which is held across the country at a national level, marks adaptation of Hindi, written in Devanagari script as the official language.Apart from India, countries like United Kingdom, United States, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, have hosted the World Hindi Conference. Also, persons of Indian origin and non-residential Indians in many countries organise events to commemorate the day to spread the greatness of the language. The 11th World Hindi Conference was held from August 18-20, 2018 in Mauritius. First World Hindi Conference - Nagpur, India - 10-12 January 1975  Second World Hindi Conference - Port Louis, Mauritius - 28-30 August 1976 Third World Hindi Conference - New Delhi, India - 28-30 October 1983 Fourth World Hindi Conference - Port Louis, Mauritius - 02-04 December 1993    Fifth World Hindi Conference- Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago - 04-08 April 1996   Sixth World Hindi Conference - London, U.K. - 14-18 September 1999 Seventh World Hindi Conference - Paramaribo, Suriname - 06-09 June 2003  Eighth World Hindi Conference - New York, America - 13-15 July 2007   Ninth World Hindi Conference - Johannesburg, South Africa - 22-24 September 2012    Tenth World Hindi Conference - Bhopal, India - 10-12 September 2015  Eleventh World Hindi Conference - Port Louis, Mauritius, 2018

On Hindi Diwas today, 14 th September,22019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah made an appeal to unify India with the country's most widely-spoken language - Hindi. His tweet mentions that it is "important for India to have one language marking its identity globally". While he said Hindi is the language which has the ability to unify the nation, he also emphasised that India is a country of many languages and each language has its own significance.Amit Shah tweeted on Hindi Diwas, which is celebrated every year on September 14, marking the significance of the day when India's Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi as the official language of India. Hindi, which is written in the Devanagri script, is one of the 22 scheduled languages of the country. However, Hindi is one of the two official languages of the Union Government, the other being English.

While India has two official languages at the national level and 22 scheduled languages recognised at the state level, the country does not have any national language. A national language is intended to have a patriotic and nationalistic identity, whereas an official languages and scheduled languages are designated purely for the purpose of communication at the official level.Amit Shah's tweet on Hindi Diwas hints at fulfilling the purpose of having Hindi as a national language. Explaining this, the minister wrote, "India is a country of many different languages, and each language has its own significance, but it is necessary to have a common language that becomes the mark of India's identity globally.""Today, if there is one language that has the ability to string the nation together in unity, it is the Hindi language which is the most widely-spoken and understood language in India," Mr Shah added.

Prof. John Kurakar