Amid Amit Shah-Hindi Row, AR Rahman's Speech On North-South Divide In India Goes Viral

At a recent event, Oscar-winning Musician AR Rahman spoke about India's 'north-south' divide. During his speech, he added that unity is what could make India more powerful.?

At the event, AR Rahman was being presented the?'The Icon' award?for his unparalleled contribution to the Indian music industry and for representing India on the global platform.

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While accepting the award, Rahman delivered a speech. Recalling an encounter with a Chinese man seven years ago, he said the man praised north Indians and their 'charming movies.'?

Agencies

However, he was deeply disappointed as he wondered if the man had watched south Indian movies.

Talking about the same, the music director said he was "deeply disturbed" over the remarks.?Rahman went on to add,?

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"South India-north India (divide), I think India is India. For me, it doesn't matter. Somebody does good here, and north Indians benefit, somebody does good there, we benefit, the borders are broken. It is very easy to divide people through art and movies. This is the time to unite, celebrate differences...this is the time to show more unity so that we can be more powerful and we can lead the world."?

Later, at the event, when asked about a "Central Minister's" remarks that "Hindi should be the link language," which hinted at Amit Shah, Rahman said,?"Tamil is the link language."?

Rahman's speech drew mixed reactions on social media:

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For the uninitiated, the language debate started after Amit Shah said Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages.

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Presiding over the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee, Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided that the medium of running the government is the official language. This will definitely increase the importance of Hindi.?

After Shah's remarks, Rahman had an image posted by Mr. Rahman in the Tamil language.?

?The image shared by Rahman was an artistic depiction of a white saree-clad woman in the center against a background of red. The image was subtle yet a powerful reference to mother Tamil and opposition to the imposition of Hindi.?

Rahman's post led to mixed reactions on social media.

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