Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday (September 14, 2026) said cultural nationalism meant creating awareness about India’s culture and history, asserting the country’s diverse languages could have different voices but the national sentiment should remain one.

“All political differences must be set aside to promote Indian languages,” Mr. Shah said while asserting that a child can understand the country only through his or her mother tongue.

Mr. Shah linked the promotion of Indian languages to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledge of freeing the country from a “mindset of slavery”.

Addressing the 6th All India Rajbhasha Sammelan, Mr. Shah said Bal Gangadhar Tilak had understood that awareness about the country’s culture and history could be created through cultural nationalism.

“Tilak started public Ganesh festivities and celebrations of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s birth anniversary, both festivals eventually spreading beyond Maharashtra, helping create a wave of patriotism during the freedom struggle,” Mr. Shah said.

The Minister said ‘Hindi Shabd Sindhu’, which began with 51,000 words, had now grown to eight lakh words and expressed confidence that it would become the world’s largest dictionary by 2029.

Mr. Shah said more than 50,000 words from Indian regional languages had been incorporated into ‘Hindi Shabd Sindhu’ to fill gaps where Hindi lacked words. He said the dictionary had accepted words from Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Odia etc, thereby making Hindi more flexible.

Mr. Shah said Maharashtra had the country’s most multilingual culture, with Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Sindhi, Hindi, Kannada and Warli among the languages spoken and developed here.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accorded Marathi the status of a classical language.

Mr. Shah said Hindi should act as a means of communication and connection among India’s languages rather than competition.

“Vinoba Bhave had said the use of Hindi had enabled him to take the message of the Bhoodan-Gramdan movement nationwide,” Mr. Shah added.

The Home Minister said his knowledge of Hindi had helped him work across the country when his party assigned him a national-level responsibility.

He also said the Rajbhasha department had developed the multilingual translation tool ‘Bharati’, while the government had set up ‘Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhag’. He invited elected representatives to communicate with the Centre in Marathi, assuring them arrangements were in place for translation.

“The Union government wants to make Indian languages the language of governance and science,” he said, adding that the aim is to enrich them through literature.

“Candidates can appear for examinations such as IAS and IPS in their mother tongue, while JEE, NEET and undergraduate exam were being conducted in 13 languages,” he pointed out.

“Political differences must be set aside to promote Indian languages. A child can understand India only through the mother tongue,” Mr. Shah asserted.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi made imparting of primary education in one’s mother tongue mandatory under National Education Policy (NEP),” Shah added.

“The biggest work PM Modi has done is that, under NEP, he has made learning in mother tongue compulsory and also made learning another Indian language mandatory. Those opposing NEP provision of learning one more Indian language apart from mother tongue do not know what sin they are committing,” he said.

Mr. Shah said more than five lakh Central government employees had undergone language training, while AI-based ‘Kanthasth 2.0’ had been made available to foreigners with more than five crore sentences. ‘Leela Rajbhasha’ and ‘Leela Pravah’ had been developed as language-learning resources.

He said nine volumes had so far been prepared by Rajbhasha Committee. Five of them would be dedicated during the Modi government’s tenure.

Mr. Shah said the government had been taking the Rajbhasha conference to different states since 2019 instead of restricting it to Delhi.

He said several publications were released during the day, including ‘Rajbhasha Bharati’ (Vande Mataram special issue) and ‘Vande Mataram Ke 150 Adhyay’. The ‘Hindi Shabd Sindhu’ digital resource and training in Hindi typing and shorthand were also launched, while ‘Rajbhasha Kirti’ and ‘Rajbhasha Gaurav’ awards were presented.

Speaking on Vande Mataram, Mr. Shah said it took 80 years to restore full glory of the national song.

“Vande Mataram is not merely a song but an effort to awaken Indian consciousness to get freedom. It laid the foundation of India’s cultural nationalism,” he said.

“The song was later split and it took decades to restore it to glory,” Mr. Shah said referring to an old decision to just sing the first two stanzas at official events.

“Vande Mataram regained its glory and began to be sung in full at all government functions because India got a prime minister like Narendra Modi,” he said.

Mr. Shah said Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had treated ‘Swaraj’, ‘Swadharma’ and ‘Swabhasha’ as integral parts of self-rule and had accorded importance to Marathi in governance.

“Mr. Modi had consistently delivered speeches in Hindi or other Indian languages at major international forums,” Shah said.

Citing Rabindranath Tagore, Mr. Shah compared Indian culture and literature to a many-petalled lotus, with each regional language forming a petal.

“Languages could remain many, but the sentiment should remain Indian and India’s voice should remain one,” the Union Minister asserted.

Published – September 14, 2026 04:18 pm IST

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced a four-pronged border security strategy, which involves border guarding forces, local population, State police and technological solutions. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari was present at the meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. File. Credit: X/@AmitShah

July 31, 2026 10:47

Priyanka Gandhi, Opposition MPs protest against Amit Shah in Parliament

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah. File
| Photo Credit: @Bhupendrapbjp/X via PTI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addresses during the 79th Raising Day Parade of the Delhi Police, in New Delhi, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, in New Delhi, on May 22, 2026. Photo: X/@PMOIndia via PTI.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah. File
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday (January 9, 2026) announced a crackdown on narcotics from March 31 with a three-year nationwide campaign to weed out the drug menace from the country.

Addressing the 9th Apex-level meeting of the Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD), Mr. Shah said that as part of the collective campaign, a working methodology for all pillars against drug abuse will be defined, targets will be set, and time-bound reviews will be conducted.

According to the date announced by the Home Minister, the campaign against drugs will be launched immediately after the deadline set by him to wipe out Naxalism ends on March 31.

Mr. Shah also virtually inaugurated a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) office in Amritsar on the occasion.

The meeting, organised in hybrid mode by the NCB, was attended by key stakeholders from Central ministries and departments, representatives from State governments, as well as drug law enforcement agencies, according to a government statement.

Mr. Shah directed all the departments to prepare a roadmap by March 31 to deal with the drug problem, establish a monitoring mechanism, and focus completely on it, so that a comprehensive solution can be found.

“In the next three years, we have to fight on all fronts against drugs across the country and make India ‘drug-free’, and make every effort to protect the country’s youth from drugs,” Mr. Shah said.

“Only continuous awareness can keep us safe,” Mr. Shah said, and asserted that the government wants to create a permanent system capable of fighting this battle against drugs.

The Home Minister said the government’s policy is clear that no compassion should be shown to those who manufacture or sell narcotics.

“We should move forward with a humanitarian approach towards the victims of drugs,” he said.

In the fight against drugs, all departments of the Central government should prepare a roadmap up to 2029 and establish a time-bound review mechanism for its implementation, he said.

Mr. Shah also appealed to all the DGPs to prepare a roadmap for their respective States and take concrete steps for the timely destruction of drugs.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the goal of making India number one in the world in every field by 2047, when the centenary of Independence is celebrated. To create such an India, it is the responsibility of all of us to provide complete protection to the young generation from drugs,” the Home Minister said.

He also said that the challenge is linked more to the issue of narco-terror than to law and order, and most importantly, it is a conspiracy to ruin the coming generations of the country.

The health of the youth, their ability to think and perform, and the growing discontent in society are all linked to this problem, he said.

Under Prime Minister Modi, considerable success has been achieved in the past 11 years in the fight against drugs, and after the reorganisation of NCORD in 2019, “we have also ensured the path to complete control over this problem”, Mr. Shah said.

“Now we have gained speed and will move forward with a three-pronged plan of action,” he said.

Only a “collective ruthless approach” towards the drug supply chain, a strategic approach towards demand reduction, and a humane approach towards harm reduction will achieve the goal of a drug-free India, he said.

“We must proceed in this fight only by strengthening command, compliance and accountability,” the Home Minister said.

He added that instead of the number of meetings, their outcomes should be reviewed, with strict action taken against the kingpins of the drug trade, financiers, and logistics routes as subjects of such assessments.

The Minister also said that the utilisation of forensic science laboratories (FSLs) and increasing the rate of timely filing of chargesheets and securing convictions should be included in the targets.

A top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approach is extremely essential for investigating the entire drug network, he said.

From 2004 to 2013, drugs weighing 26 lakh kg worth ₹40,000 crore were seized, whereas from 2014 to 2025, 1.11 lakh kg of drugs worth ₹1.71 lakh crore were seized, marking an 11-fold increase, Mr. Shah said.

In 2020, opium crop on 10,770 acres of land was destroyed, and by November 2025, crops on 40,000 acres of land were destroyed, he added.

“The NCORD mechanism has a four-tier structure with an apex-level NCORD committee, which is headed by the Union home secretary; an executive-level NCORD committee headed by the special secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs; state-level NCORD committees headed by chief secretaries; and district-level NCORD committees headed by district magistrates,” the statement said.

The mechanism was established in 2016 to enhance coordination between the states, the Ministry of Home Affairs and concerned stakeholders in addressing the challenge of drug menace holistically, it said.

Published – January 10, 2026 08:47 am IST

New Delhi:

Gyanesh Kumar, who was named as an Election Commissioner last year, has been appointed the next Chief Election Commissioner of India, replacing the outgoing Rajiv Kumar. Mr Kumar will oversee the conduct of the Bihar Assembly election later this year and the polls in Bengal, Assam, and Tamil Nadu next year. He took charge as the new poll chief this morning.

Mr Kumar’s appointment came in a late-night development on Monday, within hours after a meeting of a three-member panel consisting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi. However, it has sparked a row as Mr Gandhi did not approve of the appointment.

Row on Gyanesh Kumar’s appointment explained

The appointment of Mr Kumar as the poll chief was done based on the Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners (ECs) under the 2023 law. According to these rules, the Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a selection committee consisting of PM Modi as the Chairperson, a cabinet minister nominated by the PM – Amit Shah, and the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha.

However, the law was challenged in the Supreme Court as the three-member panel allowed the Centre a dominant role.

The top court was set to take up a hearing on a “priority basis” on February 19.

Due to this, Mr Gandhi, who was present in the meeting, had opposed Mr Kumar’s appointment and asked the government to postpone it. However, the Centre planned to press on regardless, saying that halting the process would mean leaving the key post vacant.

After Mr Kumar’s appointment, the Congress leader gave a dissent note saying the meeting was meaningless as the new law has been challenged in the Supreme Court.

“During the meeting of the committee to select the next (Chief) Election Commissioner, I presented a dissent note to the PM and HM that stated: ‘The most fundamental aspect of an independent Election Commission… free from executive interference… is the process of choosing the Election Commissioner and Chief Election Commissioner. By violating the Supreme Court order and removing the Chief Justice of India from the committee, the Modi government has exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process,” Mr Gandhi wrote in a post on X.

He added, “As the LoP, it is my duty to uphold the ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the founding leaders of our nation and hold the government to account. It is both disrespectful and discourteous for the PM and HM to have made a midnight decision to select the new CEC, when the very composition of the committee and the process is being challenged in the Supreme Court and is due to be heard in less than forty-eight hours.”

Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale also took a dig at the Centre, calling Mr Shah “India’s new Chief Election Commissioner”.

“Congratulations to Sh Amit Shah on becoming India’s new Chief Election Commissioner. The nation is confident that under your able leadership, the goal of reducing ECI to a wing of BJP will be successfully achieved,” he said, adding that the BJP would not succeed in West Bengal despite the appointment.

Who is Gyanesh Kumar

Mr Kumar is a 1988-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre. He is the senior of the two commissioners on the three-member panel that was led by Rajiv Kumar till he demitted office. The other commissioner on the panel is Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, an officer from the Uttarakhand cadre.

The new Chief Election Commissioner was a part of the Union Home Ministry earlier and had helped draft the bill that scrapped Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 and split the former state into two union territories.

He has also served as the Joint Secretary (Kashmir Division) and the Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry.