Sanskrit should be India's national language, says Kangana Ranaut amid controversy over Hindi

|HT|

Actor Kangana Ranaut on Friday said Sanskrit should be India's national language, this amid the controversy over Hindi which erupted after a Twitter spat between actors Ajay Devgn and Kichcha Sudeep.

“I would say Sanskrit should be our national language, languages like Hindi, Germany, English, French, they have all stemmed from Sanskrit. Why don't we have Sanskrit as the National language? Why is it not mandatory in schools, I don't know that," Ranaut, who was present at a trailer launch of her new film Dhaakad, said.

While backing fellow actor Devgn's tweet on ‘Hindi was, is and will always be our national language’, the National Award winning actor said denying Hindi as the national language is denying the constitution.

"Today within the country we are using English as the link to communicate. Should that be the link, or should Hindi or Sanskrit be that link, or Tamil? We have to take that call. So, keeping all these things in mind, a decisive call should be taken. As of now, Hindi is the national language according to the Constitution," she said. An all out language war erupted after Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeep said Hindi is no longer the national language of India. In a tweet written in Hindi, Devgn tagged Sudeep and said, "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." Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, Congress leader Siddaramaiah and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy backed Sudeep over his remark.

“What Sudeep has said is correct. After our states were bifurcated based on language. There is more importance given to our mother tongues and Sudeep has said the same thing. Everyone should respect this," Bommai said. “Hindi was never & will never be our National Language. It is the duty of every Indian to respect linguistic diversity of our Country. Each language has its own rich history for its people to be proud of. I am proud to be a Kannadiga!!” Siddaramaiah had tweeted.

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