New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who embarked on a 5-day visit to the United States, used Hindi while delivering his speech at the United National General Assembly in New York. This was confirmed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh recently.
Notably, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first Prime Minister to deliver his speech in Hindi in the United Nations.
Modi knows English as well and is seen speaking the language at several occasions and during several interviews. Then why does he speak in Hindi? Modi gives preference to Hindi – India’s national language and he promotes it as much as possible. Moreover, his excellent communication skills in Hindi and abilities as a public speaker, together make him a charismatic orator.
55 per cent of the Indian population speaks Hindi, while 85 to 90 per cent people understand Hindi even though it is not their mother tongue.
Hindi had been popularised in the past as well by leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, Mahatma Gandhi and N Gopalaswami Ayyangar, even though their mother tongues were not Hindi."Hindi is the common language of the country. Sanskrit is the mother of all Indian languages while Hindi and other regional languages are sisters,” Rajnath had said during a function organised on the occasion of Hindi Divas.
Modi speaks Hindi even when he meets foreign dignitaries. It was a proud moment for the country and all eyes were on Modi, when he addressed the United Nations general assembly in Hindi.
