A BJP MP on Monday called for giving both Sanskrit and Hindi the status of the national language.
Raising the issue in Lok Sabha, BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur Pushpendra Singh Chandel said at present, there is no national language in India, however, in Article 343 of the Constitution, it has been laid down that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script.
Besides the official language, 22 languages have been recognised in which Hindi is included but not English, the BJP member noted.
India is in the 75th year of its independence and has the objective of making itself a developed country by 2047, Chandel said.
Without researching the past, it is not possible to build the future, he said.
“India’s culture is eternal, there is continuity. If the country has to move towards achieving a great objective, then it is important that all its constituents have harmony and an important medium to achieve this harmony is dialogue. There are various ways for dialogue but the main medium is language,” Chandel said.
There are various languages being used in the country but the capacity to achieve social cohesion that Sanskrit has is not there in any other language, he opined.
When the aim is to make the country developed, then knowledge of India’s past and the cultural fragrance is not possible without the usage of Sanskrit, Chandel said.
“It (Sanskrit) is a language that promotes national unity and shows the way to the country. Sanskrit should be made the national language along with Hindi and all efforts be made to popularise its usage among the people,” he said.
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