Gandhinagar, Sept. 14 -- Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday emphasised the importance of Hindi to be seen as a friend of Indian languages rather than a competition.

While addressing the 5th Rajbhasha Sammelan in Gandhinagar on the occasion of Hindi Diwas, Shah said, "I always say that Hindi is not a competition to Indian languages. Hindi is a friend of Indian languages. There are no conflicts between Hindi and Indian languages."

Citing the example of Gujarat, he said, "The biggest example of this is our Gujarat. Gujarat is not a Hindi-speaking state. The State language is Gujarati."

He noted that although Gujarati is the state's primary language, prominent figures such as Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbh...