‘Why Would Tamil People Speak in Hindi?’: Sonu Nigam on National Language Row

'As per my knowledge, Hindi is not written as a national language in the Constitution,' Sonu Nigam said.

Sonu Nigam responds to national language row.

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

Singer Sonu Nigam expressed his views about the debate surrounding Hindi as India’s national language which was triggered after an exchange between Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor Kiccha Sudeep.

When asked about the debate in an interaction with Sushant Mehta, the CEO of BEAST Studios, Sonu Nigam said, "As per my knowledge, Hindi is not written as a national language in the Constitution of India. I have consulted experts regarding this also."

"Hindi is the most spoken language in the country, I understand that. Having said that, are we aware that Tamil is the world's oldest language? There is a debate between Sanskrit and Tamil. People say Tamil is the oldest language in the entire world.”

Sonu Nigam

Nigam, who is a Padma Shri awardee, added, “Do we have less problems in the country that we need a new one? We are creating disharmony in the country by imposing language on others, saying you are a Tamilian, you should speak Hindi. Why would they? People should have the right to decide the language they want to speak.”

Sushant shared the video and wrote, “Perfect response to Ajay Devgn by Sonu Nigam: Let's not divide people further in this country, where is it written that Hindi is our national language?”

"Chodo yaar (Leave this). Let them chill. A Punjabi should speak Punjabi, People from Tamil Nadu should speak Tamil. If they are comfortable in English, they will speak in that language. Our courts’ judgments are in English. Flight attendants also prefer English," Nigam added.

The singer further said, “It’s wrong. To impose something upon the people in your own country or to say, ‘We are superior. You learn our language.’ How will they do that? They’re not proficient in Hindi, they’re more comfortable in English…and we have to accept that English has become a part of our culture.” He added that there is no need to cause divisions amongst the citizens of India over this debate.

The debate about the national language made headlines after Devgn and Sudeep had a discussion about the same on Twitter. After Sudeep pointed out that Hindi isn’t India’s national language, Devgn asked him why South Indian films are dubbed in Hindi.

Later, on 27 April, Devgn tweeted, “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.”

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

Sudeep responded, “Translation & interpretations are perspectives sir. Tats the reason not reacting wothout knowing the complete matter,,,matters.:) I don't blame you @ajaydevgn sir. Perhaps it would have been a happy moment if i had received a tweet from u for a creative reason.”