Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday called for popularising the usage of Sanskrit by simplifying its words and noted that culture and history associated with a language will disappear if it becomes extinct.
Inaugurating the 50th session of All India Oriental Conference here, the Vice President said that Sanskrit should be simplified so that common man understands it and new words should be added as and when required.
Noting that a language should not be seen through the prism of religion or community, Naidu said Vedas, Upshads and Sanskrit belong to the entire country. "Everybody should have access to learn a language," he said.
Naidu said ancient books should be translated into various regional languages for the younger generation to understand the culture, traditions and history of India.
Pointing out that extensive research on Sanskrit was being undertaken in Germany, he said India was not paying adequate attention to the growth and promotion of the language.
Highlighting the importance of literary and linguistic sources in history writing, Naidu said that a language was not just a medium of communication but represents a whole culture, a whole civilisation.
"Our languages are a common thread that connects us with our past and the future," he said.
Naidu said India has around 19,500 languages and dialects and expressed his concern that around 196 languages were reportedly facing extinction.
According to an official release, Naidu said no nation can make progress if it neglects its history and called for revamping the education system to include "real Indian history" and stories about heroes such as Tukaram, Gyaneswar, Narayan Guru, Alluri Sitaramaraju and Veerapandian Kattabomman.
Naidu called for increasing the use of Indian languages in education, administration and in daily life.
He urged all state governments and Centre to provide education up to high school in local official languages or mother tongue.
( With inputs from ANI )