In a bid to promote Hindi as a global language, Fiji will host the World Hindi Conference in 2023 for the first time, said Indian High Commissioner to the South Pacific nation PS Kartigeyan.
World Hindi Conference: Global Hindi experts to participate
The event is a joint decision between the Indian and the Fijian government, as reported by the Fiji Times. The World Hindi Conference, a three-day event, will be hosted in the Fijian city of Nadi, and envisaged; this would be done to promote the Hindi language on a global level with the participation of over 1,000 virtuosos of the Indian language. The participation will include scholars, writers, and laureates, as per PS Kartigeyan.
He said, “Fiji will host the prestigious World Hindi Conference for the first time next year. I’m not at liberty to announce the dates though it has been finalized by both governments. We hope that it will be formally announced very soon.”
The Indian and Fijian governments will co-host the event, according to Kartigeyan, who was appointed the island nation’s High Commissioner in January 2021.
The High Commissioner said, “I can broadly indicate it’s going to happen sometime in the first quarter of next year and it’s being planned in Nadi and this event will be co-hosted by both the Government of India and the Government of Fiji.”
While describing the event, Kartigeyan said that around 1,000 delegates from all over the globe will be part of the event. According to him, the attendees include a large number of participants from Fiji as well as from major Hindi-speaking countries globally.
He further added, “It’s going to be a major event and this is the first time it’s happening in Fiji and the Southern Hemisphere.”
Fijian efforts to promote Hindi
As one of the three official languages of the archipelago, Hindi holds a very special place in the diaspora. The unique history of the Hindi language here is due to the efforts of the girmit brothers and sisters who landed here 130 years back.
Hindi has a very special place in Fiji. It is one of the three official languages and Fiji-Hindi itself has a very unique history thanks to the girmit brothers and sisters who came here 130 years back.
Karthigeyan further appreciated the role that Fijian academics played in the advancement of Hindi not only in Fiji but also throughout the world thanks to the Fijian diaspora.
He also said, “It is a unique opportunity to celebrate this relationship and the cultural link that we have with Fiji so we are excited and happy to host this prestigious event and we look forward to a successful event.”
Approximately 30% of Fiji’s population, or over 896,000 people, are of Indian descent, according to the United Nations (2020). Indentured laborers from India were widely employed in Fiji throughout the 19th century.
