.gif)
University of the South Pacific Vice-Chancellor Professor Rajesh Chandra has urged the preservation of the Fijian language for the sake of national unity, at celebrations to mark World Hindi Day.
Speaking yesterday at the celebrations, organised annually by the USP’s Hindi Studies Program, Chandra said the Fijian language did not have the opportunities that Hindi had.
“We are fortunate that due to our contact with India, the Hindi language is not facing any difficulty, Hindi literature is progressing in India; the popularity of Bollywood is further protecting Hindi and Indian culture,” said Chandra.
“Fijian does not have all these opportunities. To promote and preserve Fijian, Fiji alone has to work hard.”
Chandra said that with the fear among indigenous Fijians that their language may become extinct, “it is our shared responsibility to help strengthen and preserve both these languages”.
“The protection and preservation of the indigenous Fijian language will benefit the two ethnic groups by promoting unity and cohesion, thus creating a better future for all people of Fiji. We have to understand this very clearly.”
He said Fijian and Hindi were taught in schools as part of the Fiji government’s national language policy on vernacular languages and was a necessary and important initiative that should be embraced.
“Unless and until we speak each other’s language and understand each other, the future of this country is less likely to be bright.”
The USP began offering courses in Hindi Studies in 1995, with diploma and degree courses as well as distance learning options currently available.
Chandra said with USP reviewing all its programs due to financial constraints, enrolment numbers for Fijian and Hindi were low.
“We would like to maintain both of these languages but they need to boost enrolment numbers and look for sponsorship.”
USP will also establish a Hindi Advisory Board so that key stakeholders can contribute to the program.
Hindi will also go through an external review process and establish networks with other universities to increase quality.
Chandra said Indians should be proud they had maintained Hindi and Indian culture in Fiji.
“I vividly remember my visit to Trinidad; they appreciated the fact that we can speak in Hindi here because they have not been able to preserve Hindi in Trinidad as well as Fiji.”
Hindi is the third most widely spoken language in the world. About 680 million people globally speak Hindi as their first language and more than 230 million people speak it as a second language, Chandra said.
