It's important to protect mother tongue

Unlike the Latin American countries, India due to its size, tradition and wisdom withstood attempts by the Western colonisers to destroy its indigenous culture, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu said here on Sunday.

Addressing students and officials at the National Institute of Oceanography, Naidu said along with the economic reforms, India attracted investments from other countries because it is one of the world's oldest surviving civilisations.

"I have been to Latin American countries. I asked people there about their mother tongue and whether they were promoting it or not. Many of them do not even know their mother tongue," Naidu said.

"When I asked them what happened, they said we were under Spain and our language got lost," he said.

"The colonial rulers first try to attack your culture and then destroy everything. British tried it in context of India. They made English a qualification for jobs, but because of our size, culture and wisdom of people they could not succeed," he said.

Naidu said the mother tongue helps articulate original thoughts, which make it imperative for everyone to learn and understand it.

The Vice-President also said the global business community were keen on investing in India not just because of recent economic reforms and stability, but also because of the ancient Indian civilisation and culture.

"People appreciate of our culture because we are one of the oldest civilisations. We have never attacked any country," he said.

Earlier in the day, Naidu paid condolences to the family of late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar who died after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer on March 17.