Kathmandu: Stakeholders in Madhesh province have demanded that Hindi should be recognized as official language in the province. In a discussion on Hindi language and its interrelations with the politics of Madhesh organized by the Trubhuvan University, Central Department of Hindi, in Janakpurdham on Saturday, the people concerned said Hindi has been spoken in the Madhes for long and it is the mostly used language for communication in the region. “Thus it needs to be endorsed as the government official language,” they said.
Federal Minister of State for Education, Science and Technology, Pramila Kumari Yadav, said the Hindi language has contributed to consolidating the ties between Nepal and India and it deserves to get the recognition of the official language. “The language remains as the common language for communications at the civic and political level in the Madhes,” she said.
Lawmakers Rekha Yadav and Kiran Kumar Shah said the Hindi serves as the simple and widely used language for exchange of information and enhancement of the freedom of expression and opinion in the region. They said they would advocate in the House for accepting it as the official language. Madesh Academy chair Rambharos Kapadi said Hindi has played a significant role in strengthening the people-to-people ties in Nepal and India and it is also widely used language at the civic level within the Madhes, urging the government to pay a due respect to it.
Chief of TU Central Department of Hindi, Dr Sangeeta Barma opined that the government should accord due priority to Hindi as it has made an incomparable contribution for the propagation of language and education as well as political reawakening in Nepal. According to her the contribution of Hindi cannot be negated in the expansion of language, literature and education and strengthening the social and cultural ties in Madhes and other areas due to the open border. “We all are well-informed on the extraordinary contribution of Hindi language and literature in bringing democratic awareness in Nepal. Hindi was the language of education and administration well until 1951. Even now Hindi has much influence and importance in trade, commerce, communication, entertainment and education,” she said while also calling for providing recognition to its legal use in all levels and regions.
Hindi language campaigner Sudarshan Lal Karna, litterateur Poonam Jha, Prof Chandreshwor Prasad Yadav, Abha Sinha, among other speakers, urged one and all to take Hindi as the lingua franca of a large number of Nepalis and not merely as an Indian language. Binod Kumar Bishwokarma, who is teaching faculty at the TU Central Department of Hindi, said that although the Department has been running classes in Hindi by formally giving recognition to it, the Department is going to conduct discussion in all provinces in order to further boost understanding towards this language at the citizen’s and political level.
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