Kichcha Sudeep on PM Modi’s statement on national language debate: ‘Everybody’s mother tongue has been respected’

Kichcha Sudeep has commented on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments on the language debate. The actor also addressed his Twitter exchange with Ajay Devgn on the same subject.

Kichcha Sudeep's 'Hindi is no more a national language' had sparked off a debate in the nation. (Photo: Kichcha Sudeep/Instagram)

Actor Kichcha Sudeep has commented on the national language debate as he welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on the matter. Reiterating that he didn’t mean to ‘start any riot or any kind of debate’ when he commented on Hindi as a national language or responded to actor Ajay Devgn’s tweets, Sudeep told NDTV, “It just so happened without an agenda. It was an opinion I voiced. It was an honour and a privilege to see the certain lines come out of the Prime Minister’s mouth. Everybody who looks upon their language with regard and respect, it’s an overwhelming thing to see him speak this way.”

He added, “I am not just representing only Kannada, I’m talking about… everybody’s mother tongue has been respected today with those few statements from the Prime Minister and that is where I was coming from that day. We don’t look at Narendra Modi as just a politician, we look at him as a leader as well.”

The debate began after the success of films such as RRR, KGF 2 and Pushpa The Rise. At a recent event when addressing KGF 2’s success, Sudeep had said: “You said that a pan India film was made in Kannada. I’d like to make a small correction. Hindi is no more a national language. They (Bollywood) are doing pan-India films today. They are struggling (to find success) by dubbing in Telugu and Tamil, but it’s not happening. Today, we are making films that are going everywhere.”

Later, Ajay Devgn had taken on Sudeep on Twitter, asking him if Hindi is not the national language then why are his films are being dubbed in the language. He ended his tweet with a statement that read, “Hindi was and will remain our national language.” The tweet led to a long Twitter exchange between Ajay and Sudeep. But while things calmed down between the two, the debate continued.

ALSO READ | Explained: In spat between Ajay Devgn & Kiccha Sudeep, old debate on Hindi as ‘national language’

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the ongoing debate and commented that language diversity is the pride of the country. “Giving priority to local languages in the National Education Policy manifests our commitment to all regional languages. The BJP considers Indian languages the soul of Bharatiyata and the link to a better future for the country,” he said while virtually addressing party members on the inaugural day of the two-day national meeting of BJP office-bearers at Jaipur.

“I want to mention this especially because attempts have been made in the recent past to create new controversies on the basis of language. We have to constantly alert the people of the country about this,” he continued. He said that the BJP sees a reflection of the Indian culture in every Indian language.

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