Prez unveils Gandhi statue to mark 100 yrs of Hindi Prachar Sabha

The long history of the Sabha has its ups and downs. Established by Mahatma Gandhi decades before India got its independence, the DBHPS was the frontier of the ‘Hindi Prachar’ and ‘Free India’ movement and functioned on the belief that spreading Hindi to southern states will unify the country, making it easier to win independence from the British.

Over the years, it received backlash from Tamils during the anti-Hindi agitations when it was believed that Hindi was being propagated in TN to make southerners submissive to north Indians. A drawn-out protest to shut down the Sabha prevailed pre and post-independence, but DBHPS made it through.

Today, the DBHPS continues to teach Hindi to learners of all age groups, but for different reasons — they are interested in travelling/studying in the north or simply want to learn the language. The introduction of Samacheer Kalvi by DMK in 2006 when schools stopped teaching Hindi propelled avid learners to approach the Sabha to learn the language.

The Centre has given the Sabha the right to award degrees which are held in high regard in educational institutions within and outside the country. On an average, 4 lakh students write exams at the DBHPS every year. On Thursday, the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, unveiled a 15-foot-statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the T Nagar premises to mark the Sabha’s centenary celebrations and presented a speech on the importance of learning more than one regional language.

At the event, the president lauded the network of over 20,000 Hindi campaigners maintained by DBHPS, and said, “Every Indian should learn a language other than his or her native tongue.”