Modi Says Classical Language Tag to Pali Honours Buddha’s Teachings

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the recognition of Pali as a classical language honours the great heritage of Lord Buddha. In his address at an event held here to mark the International Abhidhamma Divas, he also referred to the current geopolitical scenario and called upon the whole world, “to learn from Buddha, keep the war away, and forge a path for peace”.

The Prime Minister pointed out that this year’s Abhidhamma Divas was special as the language, Pali, in which Lord Buddha gave his sermons has been recognised and accorded the status of classical language by the Union government earlier this month.

“Therefore, today’s occasion was even more special,” he said, adding that the honour accorded to Pali by recognition as a classical language was a tribute to the great legacy and heritage of Lord Buddha.

He noted that the heritage of language, literature, art and spirituality of any society defines its existence and any historical relic or artifact discovered by any country is presented before the entire world with pride. “Even though every nation connects their heritage with identity, India lagged behind due to invasions before independence and the mentality of slavery post achieving independence,” he added.

The Prime Minister emphasised that India was taken over by an ecosystem that worked to push the nation in the opposite direction.

Taking a swipe at Congress-led governments for neglect of India’s cultural legacy after Independence, Modi said, “The Buddha who resides in the soul of India and his symbols which were adopted at the time of independence were forgotten in the subsequent decades,” and regretted that Pali did not get its rightful place even after seven decades of independence.

Underlining that the nation is now moving ahead from that inferiority complex and taking big decisions, the Prime Minister said that on one hand Pali language got the status of a classical language while on the other hand the same respect was given to Marathi language.

He pointed out that Baba Saheb Ambedkar whose mother tongue was Marathi was also a great supporter of Buddhism and had his ‘Dhamma Diksha’ in Pali. Modi also spoke about granting the status of classical language to Bengali, Assamese and Prakrit. “The various languages of India nourish our diversity,” the Prime Minister said.

Highlighting the importance of language in the past, Modi remarked that each language of ours had played an important role in nation-building and the new National Education Policy (NEP) adopted by India today was also becoming a medium for preserving these languages.

He said that mother tongues were becoming stronger ever since the youth of the country have got the option of studying in their mother tongue.