Actor-politician Ramya slams Ajay Devgn on his ‘Hindi is our national language’ tweet: ‘Your ignorance is baffling’

A day after Ajay Devgn took on Kannada actor Kiccha Sudeep over a tweet about Hindi’s status as India’s national language, Sudeep’s former co-star and actor-politician Ramya has now slammed Ajay. Ajay had claimed Hindi is and will always remain India’s national language in a rare angry outburst. Ramya has now responded to it, calling Ajay’s ignorance ‘baffling’ and askin him to ‘stop Hindi imposition’. Also read: Kiccha Sudeep responds to Ajay Devgn’s tweet on his Hindi comment: ‘What if my response was typed in Kannada’

The debate began a few days ago when Sudeep, while talking about the success of south films like KGF: Chapter 2, RRR, and Pushpa: The Rise, said that Hindi is no longer India’s national language. On Wednesday, an angry Ajay tweeted in Hindi, asking Sudeep why he dubbed his films in Hindi. In the tweet, he also wrote, “Hindi was, is and always will be our mother tongue and national language. Jan Gan Man.”

On Thursday, Ramya quote tweeted Ajay’s tweet and wrote, “No- Hindi is not our national language. @ajaydevgn. Your ignorance is baffling.” She went on to reference the success of the aforementioned films, advising Ajay to ‘enjoy our films’. Her tweet further read, “And it’s great that films like KGF Pushpa and RRR have done so well in the Hindi belt- art has no language barrier. Please enjoy our films as much as we enjoy yours- #stopHindiImposition.”

Ramya, whose real name is Divya Spandana, has worked in Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil films in a near two-decade-long career. She worked with Sudeep in the 2010 film Kiccha Huccha, which gave Sudeep his famous nickname. Ramya was also an MP from Mandya on a Congress ticket from 2013-14 and handled the party’s social media for several years before quitting in 2018.

Earlier, Ajay and Sudeep seemed to have buried the hatchet on Wednesday night itself after Sudeep tweeted to Ajay saying the whole thing was a misunderstanding due to bad translation. He wrote, “Dear Ajay Devgn sir, the context to why I said that line is entirely different to the way I guess it has reached you. Probably will emphasise on why the statement was made when I see you in person. It wasn’t to hurt, provoke or to start any debate.” In follow up tweets, he emphasized that he respects Hindi but also advised Ajay to not react without knowing the full matter. Ajay, too, reacted calmly, calling Sudeep a ‘friend’. His response on Twitter read, “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.”

However, the debate is far from over. Several celebrities and even politicians have weighed in on the matter since. Karnataka chief minister Basavraj Bommai said on Thursday, “What Kiccha Sudeep said was correct. A regional language is the most important as a state is formed on linguistic bas(is).” Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma also supported Sudeep saying that “north stars are insecure and jealous of south stars now.”

Factually, Hindi is not the national language on India and never has been. India does not have any national language but Hindi and English are official languages used by the Union government.