Kamal Haasan Joins Debate Over Hindi: 'Battle For Mother Tongue Will Be Bigger Than Jallikattu'

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan has responded to the ongoing debate about Hindi in the country.

In a video posted on social media, Kamal, the founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) said that any attempts to "impose" Hindi will be opposed.

¡°India was formed as a result of the unification of many empires by many kings, who relinquished their thrones but the one thing that many people across states refused to give up was the ways of their language and culture,¡± he said.

BCCL/ FILE

¡°The unity in diversity is a promise that we made when we made India into a Republic. Now, no Shah, Sultan or Samrat must relent on that promise. We respect all languages, but our mother language will always be Tamil,¡± Kamala added.

Referring to the massive state-wide protests in Tamil Nadu a few years ago against the ban on Jallikattu, Kamal warned that "the battle for our language will be exponentially bigger than that".

Kamal also said that most Indians don¡¯t sing the national anthem in their own language but for the Bengalis. We are happy to do so is because the author of those verses embraced and acknowledged the importance of the languages and cultures that make India and accorded them their due respect, he added.

Now you are constrained to prove to us that India will continue to be a free country.
You must consult the people before you make a new law or a new scheme. pic.twitter.com/u0De38bzk0

¡ª Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) September 16, 2019

The controversy began a couple of days ago when Home Minister Amit Shah while speaking on the occasion of Hindi Divas pitched for a common language for the country and said it is Hindi which is spoken the most and that it can unite the whole country.

Shah also said efforts will be made to expand Hindi to different parts of the country and asked everyone to use their native languages as much as possible.

"India has many languages and every language has its importance. But it is absolutely necessary that the entire country should have one language that becomes India's identity globally," he had said.

This, however, has not gone down well with non-Hindi speaking state, especially in the south.

In Tamil Nadu, even the ruling AIADMK which is a BJP ally criticized the comment.

Opposition leader MK Stalin termed Shah's remarks as "shocking," accused the Centre of "autocratic imposition of Hindi" and underscored the need for unity in opposition ranks to take forward protest against the government on such issues.

BCCL/ FILE

Tamil Nadu was witness to the famous anti-Hindi agitation successfully taken forward by the DMK in the 1960s, against the alleged imposition of the language.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said it was a "planned attempt" to stir up controversy and divert attention from pressing problems in the country.

He termed it as a 'war cry' against the mother tongue of non-Hindi speaking people.

My best wishes to all on #HindiDiwas. We should respect all languages and cultures equally. We may learn many languages but we should never forget our mother-language

¡ª Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) September 14, 2019

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said people should respect all languages and cultures equally but not at the cost of their mother tongues.