PM Pariksha Charcha live streaming at Gyandeep public school Chandkheda in Ahmedabad (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday highlighted the rich history of the Tamil language, calling it one of India’s “big treasures” and a “source of pride”. Addressing students at the sixth edition of the Pariksha Pe Charcha event, PM Modi said that he had used a few Tamil words during his address at the UN General Assembly in 2019 to spread the message that India is home to the world’s oldest language.
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“Shouldn’t we feel proud to say that the oldest language of the world belongs to our nation? Tamil language is the oldest language in the world. The country has such a big asset, it’s a matter of pride,” PM Modi said. He was replying to a student’s question on the importance of learning languages.
Recounting his UNGA address where he used a few Tamil phrases, the prime minister said: “In my last speech at UNGA, deliberately I used some Tamil sentences, because I wanted to tell the world that I am proud that Tamil Lang is the world best and oldest lang in the world, and it belongs to my country. We shoud feel proud.”
The prime minister said that one should not hold back from learning a language just because it is not their mother tongue. “Now tell me, doesn’t a person in North India relish eating idli and sambhar, at that moment he doesn’t see any difference between the north and south, similarly you get to eat paratha an puri sabzi in the south and people enjoy eating it. There is no tension,” he said.
He encouraged young people to pick up a few of India’s multitude of languages and dialects. “You live in such a big country, have you ever thought of learning a language like how you learn an instrument like sitar or piano,” he told the students. “I urge everyone to know a few sentences of any Indian language apart from their mother tongue. You will enjoy meeting and speaking to a person in their language, you’ll feel a sense of belongingness.”
“We have to learn the language without feeling as if its is a burden”, the PM added.
Around 2000 students, teachers and parents participated in the Pariksha Pe Charcha event. This year, over 38 lakh registrations were recorded, which is double what it was in 2022.
