The smoldering politics over language, fanned by the government’s push for Hindi, reached a nucleation point on Wednesday when actors Ajay Devgn and Kiccha Sudeep sparred in a Twitter feud over what is the country’s national language.
Hindi was, is, and will always be our mother tongue and national language, Bollywood actor Devgn tweeted in Hindi in a response to Kannada star Sudeep’s recent comments where he pointed out Hindi was not India’s national language.
"Everyone says that a Kannada film was made on a pan-India level but a small correction is that Hindi is not a national language anymore," Sudeep said while talking about the spectacular success of Yash’s KGF 2.
He also added that Bollywood movies that are being made keeping the pan-India sentiment in mind seldom find the raging success that Telugu or Tamil movies get.
Then came Ajay Devgn’s misinformed tweet.
"Kiccha Sudeep my brother, according to you if Hindi is not our national language then why do you release your mother tongue movies by dubbing them in Hindi? Hindi was, is and always will be our mother tongue and national language. Jan Gan Man," he tweeted in Hindi.
It is to be noted that Hindi is not India’s national language, and is one of the 22 official languages of the country that includes Hindi, English, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Odia, Assamese and Bengali among a string of others.
Devgn also ends his tweet with the national anthem “Jana Gana Mana” which incidentally was also written in Bengali, not Hindi, by Bengali Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
Sudeep’s response to Devgn came soon after where he said that his comments were not to “hurt, provoke or start any debate”.
“I love and respect every language of our country sir. I would want this topic to rest, as I said the line in a totally different context. Much love and wishes to you always. Hoping to seeing you soon,” he continued.
Devgn replied, again, thanking him for clearing up the “misunderstanding”.
Sudeep reverted saying that it would have been a happy moment if Devgn’s tweet was about a creative reason instead of this.
And then Sudeep ended the conversation it with a question for Devgn, a huge star in Hindi movies who recently starred in SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster “RRR”.
“And sir Ajay Devgn, I did understand the text you sent in Hindi. That’s only coz we all have respected, loved and learnt Hindi. No offense sir, but was wondering what'd the situation be if my response was typed in Kannada! Don't we too belong to India sir,” Sudeep, a huge star in south Indian movies who has also worked in Bollywood tweeted that garnered over 1,20,000 likes.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was one of the many to outrage against Devgn’s tweet.
"Hindi was never and will never be our National Language. It is the duty of every Indian to respect linguistic diversity of our country," he said in a tweet.
Many Twitter users called out Devgn for his misinformed tweet as well. The actor has also been at the centre of a social media storm surrounding the endorsement of gutkha which many pointed out is irresponsible for stars to do as they have a social responsibility. Many slammed him with memes over the endorsement.
The debate over Hindi is a never-ending one and resurfaces every few years. This time, the government pushed for Hindi, and not local languages, as an alternative to English sending the non-Hindi speaking into an overdrive with Opposition leaders calling it an attack on the country’s diversity and pluralism.
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