South actors’ strong statements about Hindi imposition -F’day Spl. Article by Naveen
Ajay Devgn and Kiccha Sudeep’s recent Twitter war about Hindi was one of the most discussed topics on social media. Kicha’s response to Ajay was supported by many celebrities from the South.
It is to be noted this is not the first time that celebrities from south to voice about Hindi imposition. Let us take a look at some of the statements made by Tamil actors in this regard in the past.
Rajinikanth:
Not just Tamil Nadu, none of the southern states will accept Hindi imposition. Not just Hindi, no language should be imposed on the country. However, forcing a language is not acceptable. Southern states will not accept Hindi imposition. Even some northern states will not accept Hindi Imposition.’
Kamal Haasan:
Kamal Haasan said another language agitation will take place, which will be much bigger than the Jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu.
AR Rahman:
Following the recent remarks of Amit Shah about Hindi as connecting language, Rahman took to Twitter to share an illustration of “Thamizhanangu” (Goddess Tamil). It is a word from Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu, written by Manonmaniam. The illustration also had Bharathidasan’s famous line, which read, “Beloved Tamil is the root of our existence.”
Later that week, AR Rahman said that this is a time for celebrating differences and diversity. He went ahead and said that Tamil is a connecting language.
Simbu:
Simbu took to Twitter to share a tweet, which reads, “Let us unite in the name of Tamil,” with a pro-Tamil hashtag #TamilConnects.
Siddharth:
In 2019, Siddharth spoke up against the National Educational Policy and the Hindi bias in it. He engaged in a heated conversation with a netizen about Hindi imposition.
His tweets read, “First you ‘brothers’ stop clubbing multiple languages older and more significant than #Hindi as southwalla!Second, learn the names of our states and languages and try to pronounce the names properly. No more thaaamil, kannad, kayral etc. Nobody is against #Hindi. The problem lies in #HindiImposition. There is no effort from #Hindi speakers to learn beautiful regional languages. Why is there this silly expectation that we should prefer #Hindi over a neutral, efficient second language like #English (sic)?”
Prakash Raj:
Taking to Twitter, Prakash Raj, wrote, “Don’t try to break homes Mr Home Minister … We dare you #stopHindiImposition. We love our diversity. We love our mother tongue. We love our identities. #JustAsking.”
Yuvan Shankar Raja:
A picture of popular music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja and a young actor, ‘Metro’ Shirish, wearing designer t-shirts that say they are Tamil-speaking Indians and do not know Hindi went viral on social media.
By Naveen
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