'No need to impose one language': Cong leader Shergill comments on national language row

Amid the ongoing national language debate, Congress’ Jaiveer Shergill on Thursday said that being unaware of regional languages is not a reason to impose a single language on all. Joining the conversation, Shergill said that cultural diversity is what makes India great. His reaction came after a row over the national language was kicked off by actor Ajay Devgn as he asserted that, "Hindi was, is and always be our national language".

Jaiveer Shergill took to Twitter to note his disagreement with the idea of Hindi being the national language. The Congress spokesperson, while responding to the row, noted that he knew multiple languages and took pride in the same. He further joined other Congress leaders and said that a single language should not be imposed on different cultures.

Batting for multilingual cultures, Shergill wrote, “Speaking in Punjabi gives me sense of pride, Hindi connects me to Hindi heartland, knowing English makes me feel part of global order, not knowing regional languages is my handicap and not a reason to impose 1 language on all - Multilingual/cultural diversity is what makes Bharat Mahan!”

This came after Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday asserted that Hindi will never be the national language. Slamming the tweet by Devgn, the former CM stated that it is Indians’ duty to respect “the linguistic diversity of the country”.

Ajay Devgn, Kichcha Sudeep engage in language debate

Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor-filmmaker Kiccha Sudeep started off a debate over the national language after engaging in a "brotherly argument" on the microblogging platform on the much-debated topic of the national language.

However, Sudeep clarified that the context in which he made the comment was different from the way it was perceived. He said that it was not his intent to provoke, hurt or start a debate. During the trailer launch event of R: The Deadliest Gangster Ever, Sudeep stated that Hindi is no more the national language.

"You (compere) said the Kannada film (KGF-2) had pan-India effect. Let there be a correction -- Hindi is no more a national language. Hindi (film industry) should say that they are doing pan-India films today. They are struggling and dubbing their movies in Tamil and Telugu, yet it is not happening (business)," Sudeep had said.

However, the statement didn't go well with Ajay Devgn. He tweeted in Hindi, which translated to, "@KicchaSudeep, my brother, according to you if Hindi is not our national language then why do you release your movies, made in your mother tongue, by dubbing them in Hindi? Hindi was, is and always will be our mother tongue and national language. Jan Gan Man."

The actors went back and forth on Twitter before Devgn noted that there was a “misunderstanding” and “something was lost in translation”. 

However, the tweets started off a row with several politicians reacting to the same.

Image: ANI