Article 343 of the Indian constitution clearly states that “Hindi in Devanagari script” shall be the official language of the Union. Despite this, the opposition is united to criticise the central government on the proposal to use Hindi as a medium of communication. Such is the hatred towards Hindi, you see. Hindi seems to have become a national issue but unlike other issues, it’s not going to die. You may ask, why? Well, it is because the celebrities like Ajay Devgn, Arjun Rampal and Manoj Muntashir have also turned into flag-bearers of Hindi.
Manoj Muntashir’s pro-Hindi stance
The controversy erupted over the national language ever since Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that the importance of Hindi will definitely grow. While the politicians down south have begun spewing venoms not only against the central government but Hindi itself, few celebrities have stepped into the fight for what is in the nation’s interest. Manoj Muntashir is the newest on this list.
Read more: After Manoj Muntashir’s takedown of Mughals, Leftists bully YouTube in removing the video
Muntashir took to Twitter to criticise the permanent use of Hindi and tweeted, “English is good to read and know, but the day when makers of Hindi films start speaking Hindi in everyday life, the soul will automatically enter our films. The Hindi film industry has neither ended nor will it ever be. Just a little introspection is needed, we will return after playing the drums.”
अंग्रेज़ी पढ़ना और जानना अच्छा है, लेकिन हिंदी फ़िल्में बनाने वाले जिस दिन रोज़मर्रा की ज़िंदगी में हिंदी बोलना शुरू कर देंगे, हमारी फ़िल्मों में आत्मा अपने आप उतर आएगी. हिंदी फ़िल्म उद्योग न समाप्त हुआ है न कभी होगा. बस थोड़े से आत्म-मंथन की ज़रूरत है, हम नगाड़ा बजा के लौटेंगे.
— Manoj Muntashir Shukla (@manojmuntashir) May 3, 2022
It is not the first time that Manoj has taught Hindu haters the lesson of their life. He was earlier caught up in the controversies for sharing a promo of his video where he labelled Mughals as ‘Glorified Dacoits’. Right after the video went viral on Thursday, several colleagues in the industry, the self-proclaimed historians, and liberals began slamming the lyricist alleging that Manoj is “seeding hatred” in the video.
आप किसके वंशज हैं ?
Choose Your Legacy And Your Heros!
Relwasing today at 5 PM on YouTube/Manoj Muntashir pic.twitter.com/Xi9Mq1GGSf— Manoj Muntashir Shukla (@manojmuntashir) August 24, 2021
Arjun Rampal supports Ajay on the language debate
Arjun Rampal’s entry into the picture has now weighed in on the language debate sparked by Kiccha Sudeep and Ajay Devgn. Arjun sharing his opinions on the issue said that Hindi is the country’s national language and one should respect that.
Read more: Ajay Devgn had the guts to say that no “Hindi cinema” actor will ever have
While interacting with media, he said, “India is a very diverse, secular and colourful country with so many different languages, cultures, festivals and religions. We all live here together peacefully and happily. I think language is nothing. What’s most important for me is the emotion. I think Hindi has been our national language and we should respect that. And it is spoken the most and understood the most in this diverse country to communicate. But that is not taking away from any other language.”
“Since we live in such a diverse nation, it would be great to imbibe everybody’s different cultures. Learn a little bit of Tamil, and learn a little bit of Telugu. I have been to Tamil Nadu to study, so I picked up quite a bit of Tamil when I was there. And when you go to Punjab and live there for a few months, I have been shooting there, so you pick up a lot of Punjabi. Or if you go to Gujarat, you pick up Gujarati. I live in Maharashtra, so I know Marathi. It’s amazing and there’s enjoyment in all these languages. We should celebrate them,” he added.
Language debate between Ajay Devgn and Kichcha Sudeep
Last month, Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn went on a rampage mode on Wednesday and slammed Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeep over his controversial statement on Hindi and KGF 2.
Reportedly, Kichcha, during the promotion tour of KGF 2 had stoked controversy after the Kannada-language film was referred to as a ‘pan India film’. Attacking Bollywood, Kichcha remarked that Hindi is no more a national language and that the Hindi film industry is struggling today to find success by dubbing Telugu and Tamil films but it is not happening.
Read more: Hindi bashing is the unifying factor for the politicians down South
However, Ajay was not the one to take Kichcha’s remarks lying down. The actor who proudly wears his culture on his sleeve in a Twitter reply hit back at the Kannada actor by stating, “My brother, if according to you Hindi is not our national language then why do you release your movies 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.”
Feeling the heat of Ajay’s reply, Kichcha also took to Twitter but tried to douse the situation by claiming that the context in which his statement was made was different.
To which, Ajay accepted the olive branch and remarked that perhaps something was lost in translation, “Hi @KicchaSudeep ,You are a friend. thanks for clearing up the misunderstanding. I’ve always thought of the film industry as one. We respect all languages and we expect everyone to respect our language as well. Perhaps, something was lost in translation.”
Linguistic and regional disputes have been existing for a long time in India. Hindi, however, is yet to be given the respect it deserves. However, in what can be seen as a positive move, the Hindi momentum has increased dramatically in the nation. Moreover, the actors like Ajay Devgn and Arjun Rampal are ensuring that the momentum does not die which displays the respect for Hindi. It further means that Hindi will soon get its due.
