As per the 2011 census, 43.63 percent of Indians speak Hindi as their mother tongue. Recently, on Hindi Diwas, the home minister of India said that diversity of languages and dialects is the strength of our nation. But there is a need for our nation to have one language so that foreign languages don’t find a place. By this he meant Hindi to be used as a link language throughout the country.

Hindi Has Been Successful In Becoming The Link Language For India:

1. Origin of Hindi itself was as a link language. It was born out of various languages of North India having roots in Sanskrit.
2. People are accepting it as a connecting medium, for instance in Tamil Nadu, more and more children are learning Hindi with the rise in the number of CBSE schools.
3. The number of students voluntarily enrolled in Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, established in 1918 by Mahatma Gandhi to propagate Hindi in the southern states has seen a steady increase.
4. Most people view the acquisition of Hindi skills as something that augments job prospects, enabling the individual to seek opportunities in other states. Working knowledge of Hindi just makes it easier to connect with the national market in India.
5. In Metro cities like Bangalore and Chennai, it is now easier to communicate as we find more multilingual people around.
6. Many people from the northeastern region of India are coming to various states and using Hindi as a medium of communication to connect with local people.
7. Hindi has become not only a link of communication but also a link to culture. Onam, Diwali, Durga Puja and Holi such festivals are being celebrated by all Indians.

Hindi Has Not Been Successful In Becoming The Link Language For India

1. Article 351 states that to promote the spread of Hindi is the duty of the union. This is considered as the imposition of Hindi by many non-Hindi states.
2. People belonging to non-Hindi regions feel it as a threat to their culture and identity. They believe using Hindi will dilute their cultural identities.
3. Hindi is widely used as a medium of communication; this trend is unknowingly killing the threatened languages. Many of the tribal languages are either extinct or on the verge of extinction.
4. Hindi or non-Hindi language, it has taken a political overtone. Language is being used by politicians for their political gains.
5. The dominance of Hindi speaking representatives in parliament is perceived as the preference of Hindi speaking population over non-Hindi population for allocation of resources. It creates a feeling of animosity towards Hindi in the Non-Hindi speaking population.

Language, religion, etc. appeal strongly to our emotions. If they are forced on someone, the reaction will almost always be to oppose it. What puts vernacular speakers on the back-foot is the fear of imposition of a dominant language. Once those fears are assuaged, there isn’t any major resistance to the practicality of having Hindi as a national link language. It is very much evident from increasing use of Hinglish; Hindi plus English.