BENGALURU: The Twitter war between actors Kiccha Sudeep and Ajay Devgn on Hindi as the national language, has taken a political turn, with leaders of all political hues defending Sudeep. While Congress and JDS leaders slammed the Bollywood actor as well as the BJP government for attempting to impose Hindi on all states, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, his cabinet ministers and the Kannada cinema fraternity came forward to defend Sudeep’s stand.
The opposition hit out at Devgn for calling Hindi “Rashtrabhasha”, while Karnataka Rakshana Vedike members staged a protest in Bengaluru against the actor. In Hubballi, Bommai told reporters that whatever Sudeep had tweeted was correct. “After states were formed based on region, the regional language is supreme for those states, and one has to respect it,’’ he said.
In a series of tweets, former CM HD Kumaraswamy defended Sudeep. “Ajay Devgan is not only hyper in nature but also shows his ludicrous behaviour. Devgan must realise that Kannada cinema is outgrowing Hindi film industry,” he said.
Kumaraswamy said Hindi cinema has grown because of encouragement by Kannadigas. Devgn shouldn’t forget that his first movie, ‘Phool aur Kaante’, ran for a year in Bengaluru. “An addiction for primacy is dividing the country,” he said.
This is a threat to India’s unity, says Kumaraswamy
Kumaraswamy also slammed the BJP for sowing a seed which is dividing the nation. “This is a threat to India’s unity,” he tweeted. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah said Hindi was not the national language, and never will be. “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,” he tweeted. However, Minister for Higher Education Dr C N Ashwath Narayan said the top priority in the state is for Kannada, but it is necessary to treat “Hindi as the communicative language at the national level”.
On Wednesday, actors Ajay Devgn and Sudeep had duelled in twitterspace, with Devgn saying, “Hindi was, is, and will always be our mother tongue and national language”, in reaction to Sudeep’s comment that Hindi is not the national language.
Sandalwood stands with Sudeep
Many Kannada actors, directors and others from Sandalwood have come forward to defend Sudeep. Actor-turned-politician Ramya said Hindi is not the national language. “Ajay Devgan, your ignorance is baffling and it’s great that films like KGF, Pushpa and RRR have done so well in the Hindi belt -- art has no language barrier. Please enjoy our films as much as we enjoy yours,” she said.
Actor Ninasam Satish tweeted “for the past many years, your (Hindi) cinema is making money in Karnataka and just now Kannada cinema has entered there. Give respect to our language. Hindi was never our National language and we are with you Sudeep’’.