Amid Tamil Nadu row, PM Modi says it's 'our duty to embrace all languages'

NEW DELHI: Amid DMK leaders' declaration that they were ready for a language war in protest against the

three-language formula

, PM Narendra Modi on Friday said there has never been any animosity among

Indian languages

and each has enriched the other.
Addressing the inaugural function of the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in New Delhi, Modi said when efforts were made to create divisions based on languages, India's shared linguistic heritage gave a fitting reply. "It is our social responsibility to distance ourselves from these misconceptions and embrace and enrich all languages," the PM added.
His remarks came on a day when Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin reiterated his stand that implementation of the National Education Policy, 2020, was an attempt to impose a three-language formula throughout the country and said the state would stick to its two-language system.
The PM, meanwhile, said while languages were born in society, they also played a crucial role in shaping it. "Language is not just a medium of communication but a carrier of our culture," he said, adding that today, all languages in the country were viewed as mainstream languages.

Modi highlighted that India was one of world's oldest living civilisations because it had consistently evolved, embraced new ideas, and welcomed changes. Pointing out that India's vast linguistic diversity was a testament to this evolution and served as a fundamental basis for unity, he compared language to a mother who imparted new and vast knowledge to her children without discrimination.
Modi also referred to efforts to promote education in all major languages and added that the mindset of neglecting talent due to the lack of English proficiency had changed.