'It's like ragging in colleges': Kamal Haasan wades into language row, says north vs south debate is temporary, it will pass

Chennai: Jumping into north vs south debate, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan has said that the controversy over south Indian and Hindi films is topical, temporary, and it will pass. He also said that there are no borders for artists, and the current language row is like ragging in colleges.

"It is topical, temporary, and it will pass. It's like ragging in the colleges. They then become very great friends and miss each other, they later come and hug each other with tears. Because they miss the time they had, it's a lack of understanding about what a diverse country India is," Hassan said while speaking to Times India.

The row started after Bollywood star Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor Kiccha Sudeep got into twitter spat over Hindi. The debate began after Sudeep at an event to discuss the success of south Indian film KGF said that Hindi was no longer a national language. Devgan shot back saying if Hindi was not the national language then why South Indian films were being dubbed in the language. "Hindi was, is and always will be our mother tongue and national language," he said.

Their spat on Twitter sparked off a wider debate with many stars and politicians joining in and batting for the local language.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai backed Sudeep saying he was correct in saying a regional language is the most important as a state is formed on linguistic bases. He said everyone should understand and respect what Sudeep has said.

Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, too, joined the debate, saying: "Hindi was never and will never be his national language". He said it is the duty of every Indian to respect the linguistic diversity of the country. "Each language has its own rich history for its people to be proud of. I am proud to be a Kannadiga," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently sought to bridge the divide by saying that the BJP considers all Indian languages the soul of Indianness and worthy of reverence.