Those who speak English will soon feel ashamed: Shah stresses need to uphold India's linguistic heritage

Speaking at IAS Ashutosh Agnihotri's book launch of Main Boond Swayam, Khud Sagar Hoon, Shah stated, "In this country, those who speak English will soon feel ashamed -- the creation of such a society is not far away. Only those who are determined can bring about change.

Union Minister Amit Shah.

Credit: PTI photo

New Delhi: Emphasising the need for upholding one's linguistic heritage, Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday claimed that the time is not far away for people speaking in English in the country to "feel ashamed".

Launching a book Main Boond Swayam, Khud Sagar Hoon by IAS officer Ashutosh Agnihotri here, he said India "cannot be imagined" with foreign languages, as one cannot understand one's history, culture and religion in an alien language.

"Remember what I say and listen to me carefully. Time is not far away for a society where people speaking in English in this country feel ashamed. The languages of our country are the jewels of our culture. Without them, we are not Indians...India cannot be imagined with a foreign language," he said.

He said he is aware of the difficulties in reclaiming the prominence of Indian languages but he has full faith in Indian society that it will win the battle. "With pride in our languages, we will run our country, ideate, research, make decisions and lead the world too. There is no need for anyone to doubt this...Our languages will greatly contribute to us being at the top of the world in 2047," he said.

He said literature kept the lamps of our religion, freedom, and culture lit when the country was in darkness. "A change in government did not bother anyone but when someone tried to touch our religion, culture and literature, our society stood against them and defeated them. Literature is the soul of our society," he said.

He also said a "radical change" is needed in the training of administrative officers as rarely, they are trained to introduce empathy in the system. It maybe because the British era inspired this training model and he believes that if any administrator rules without empathy, then they cannot achieve the real objective of governance, he said.

"When change becomes a mass movement, it becomes a revolution. Today, we can see this change in our country...I believe that by 2047, our journey of change will bring back our country's glory," he said.