NEW DELHI, Sep 14: President Ram Nath Kovind today asked Hindi-speaking people to give more respect and space to regional languages and their speakers in a bid to make Hindi more popular across the country.
Addressing a function on the occasion of Hindi Divas here, the President said Hindi continued to face opposition in some parts of the country even though it became an official language many decades ago.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was also present at the function organised by his ministry, said in his address that Hindi could be enriched further if its speakers also used words from other languages.
Referring to recent incidents on the Bangalore Metro, where a pro-Kannada group opposed Hindi signboards in the train service, and earlier agitations against Hindi in Tamil Nadu, President Kovind said there was a feeling among some people that Hindi was being imposed on them.
“Non-Hindi speaking people desire that we (Hindi-speaking people) give attention to their languages. Those who speak Hindi should give space to other languages. We all have the responsibility to give respect to non-Hindi speaking people and regional languages,” he said.
Kovind suggested that those who speak Hindi should greet a Tamilian with a vanakkam, a Sikh with Sat Sri Akal and a Muslim with an Adaab — words of greeting in Tamil, among Sikhs and in Urdu respectively. They should use the word Garu (sir) while addressing a Telugu-speaking person, he said.
The adoption of other languages and cultures will help unite the people and the country, he said. (PTI)
