BENGALURU: The issue of national language took the centre stage again with actor Ajay Devgn claiming that Hindi “was, is and always will be our mother tongue,” in response to a statement made by actor Sudeep.
The two actors had a brief confrontation on Twitter, after Devgn took on Sudeep over the latter’s statements during the release of the film ‘R: The Deadliest Gangster Ever’. Responding to the praise received by KGF Chapter 2 and the Kannada flick being termed a pan-India film, Sudeep said Hindi is no longer the national language.
Responding to this in Hindi, Devgn tweeted on Wednesday evening, “My brother, if according to you Hindi isn’t our national language, then why do you dub films in your mother-tongue and release them in Hindi? Hindi was, is and will always be our mother-tongue and national language. Jan Gan Man.”
While the squabble was quickly resolved, with Sudeep responding that his quote had been taken out of context and that the misunderstanding would be explained personally, Twitter was ablaze with Sudeep’s fans using the #stophindiimposition hashtag to express their disagreement with Devgn’s statement. The tweet had especially touched a nerve, in the context of Hindi being pushed as an alternative language by Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this month at the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee.
Congress leader Siddaramaiah responded to Devgn’s tweet, saying, “Hindi was never and will never be our national language. It is the duty of every Indian to respect the linguistic diversity of our country. Each language has its own rich history for its people to be proud of. I am proud to be a Kannadiga!!”
Meanwhile, Devgn responded cordially to Sudeep, saying, “Hi @KicchaSudeep, you are a friend. Thanks for clearing up the misunderstanding. I’ve always thought of the film industry as one. We respect all languages and we expect everyone to respect our language as well. Perhaps, something was lost in translation.”