The Twitter spat between Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeep over the use of Hindi nationally has resulted in a language row of sorts to erupt, with politicians from Karnataka jumping into the fray, proving once again how emotive, and divisive, the issue can be.
Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, who’s awaiting the release of his film Runway 34 on Friday, got into a war of words with South star Kichcha Sudeep after the latter’s comment that Hindi was no longer India’s national language. As per media reports, during an event, Sudeep stated that “Hindi is no more a national language.” Following this, Devgn took to Twitter and expressed his views on Sudeep’s comment. He wrote in Hindi, “Kiccha Sudeep, my brother, according to you, if Hindi is not our national language then why do you release your native language films by dubbing them in Hindi? Hindi was, is and always will be our mother tongue and national language. Jan Gan Man.” From there matters got escalated, with former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular leader, H.D. Kumaraswamy calling Ajay Devgn a mouthpiece of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Actor Ajay Devgn is not only hyper in nature but also shows his ludicrous behaviour,” said Kumaraswamy.
Taking to Twitter, Kumaraswamy wrote, “Actor @KicchaSudeep saying that Hindi is not a national language is correct. There is nothing to find fault in his statement. Actor @ajaydevgn is not only hyper in nature but also shows his ludicrous behaviour.” Kumaraswamy accused the Central government of doing language politics and said Devgn was blabbering as a mouthpiece for the BJP’s Hindi nationalism agenda. “From the beginning, Hindi-based political parties at the Centre have been making efforts to destroy regional languages. Congress started suppressing regional languages, which is being continued by the BJP,” he tweeted. “Ajay Devgn blabbered as a mouthpiece of the BJP’s Hindi nationalism of one nation, one tax, one language and one government,” Kumaraswamy said in a subsequent tweet.
“Just because a large population speaks Hindi, it doesn’t become the national language. Less than nine states, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, have Hindi as 2nd, 3rd language or not even that. This being the situation, what is the truth in Ajay Devgn’s statement? What do you mean by not to dub?” he questioned in another tweet. “Devgn must realise that Kannada cinema is outgrowing the Hindi film industry. Because of encouragement by Kannadigas Hindi cinema has grown. Devgn shouldn’t forget that his first movie Phool aur Kaante ran for a year in Bengaluru,” he tweeted further.
Earlier, the Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also commented on Devgn and Sudeepa’s Twitter exchange and said, “Hindi was never and will never be our national language.” “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!!” Siddaramaiah tweeted.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday extended support to Sudeep, saying that regional language was the most important. Bommai told journalists, “What Kiccha Sudeep said was correct. The mother tongue or the regional language of the state concerned is supreme. Everyone should understand and respect that. Our states have been formed on a linguistic basis. So the concerned state language or the mother tongue should get prominence and supremacy. Everyone should understand and respect that,” Bommai said.