As the world marks International Mother Language Day on February 21, Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has urged the nation to contribute towards the promotion of Indian languages. He described the first learned and spoken mother tongue as the ''soul of life'' and also emphasised the need for promoting native languages for preserving the country's rich cultural diversity.

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The Rajya Sabha chairman tweeted in different Indian languages such as- English, Hindi, Punjabi, Kannada, Gujarati, Malayalam, Bengali, Telugu, Odias to send his message on International Mother Language Day. The tweet read, "My greetings on International #MotherLanguageDay. Linguistic diversity has always been one of the foundational pillars of our civilization. More than just a means of communication, our mother languages connect us with our heritage and define our socio-cultural identity".

"We must promote the use of the mother tongue in all spheres- from primary education to governance. We must encourage the creative expression of our thoughts and ideas in our own languages! #MotherLanguageDay", he added.

The Vice President interacted with the trainees of Swarna Bharat Trust and paid floral tributes to Swami Vivekananda, on Sunday.

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Vice President urges MPs

Naidu wrote a letter to Members of Parliament and urged them to be an active facilitator in promoting native languages by drawing inspiration from the motto of "Let us love and promote the mother tongue".

"I request you to be an active facilitator in promoting native languages in the large area you represent in the Parliament. Given your standing among the people you represent, your efforts could give a fillip to the promotion of Indian languages. I sincerely hope that you would agree with me on the need for preservation and promotion of all Indian languages and do whatever is possible to enrich them," he told the MPs in his letter, reported PTI.

Naidu also informed the MPs that about 200 Indian languages are facing extinction and the UNO's concern over one world language becoming extinct every two weeks.

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He also elaborated on the consequences of neglecting native languages as it results in the loss of knowledge accumulated over time in respective cultures

"With a multiplicity of languages and a rich spectrum of dialects, we have regions which are repositories of knowledge much of which stands imperilled today. This is mainly due to a mindset of looking down upon one's mother tongue and wearing the linguistic badge of competence in English as a false sign of superiority. Culture and language are the two sides of the same coin. Extinction of a language results in the loss of precious legacy. We can't allow this to happen," said Naidu, reported PTI.

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(With PTI Inputs)