Let's not divide people further in India: Nigam on Hindi as national language

Singer Sonu Nigam says Hindi is not the countrys national language and attempts to impose it on nonHindi speaking citizens will only create rift withinThe singers comments come days after Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeep engaged in a Twitter spat over Hindi being a national languageDevgn had tweeted that Hindi was is and will always be our national language a remark that he made to counter Sudeeps comments that Hindi was no longer the national languageAt an event here on Monday when Nigam was asked about his stand on the debate the singer said he was puzzled that this was even a topic of discussionI dont think anywhere in the Constitution it is written that Hindi is our national language It might be the most spoken language I understand that but not the national languageHaving said that are we aware that Tamil is the worlds oldest language There is a debate between Sanskrit and Tamil But people say Tamil is the oldest language in the entire world he told website Cinema BeastIndia doesnt have a national language and Hindi and Kannada are among the 22 languages listed in the eighth schedule of the Constitution Both Hindi and English are official languagesNigam who has sung songs in several Indian languages like Tamil Kannada Telugu Gujarati Malayalam and Bengali said one should not impose Hindi on othersWhy are we doing this Why is this discussion even happening Look around your neighbouring countries and you are creating a rift within our country saying You also speak Hindi But why should they Let people speak what they want to why are you after them that only one language will be spoken in the country he saidThe 48yearold singer said if nonHindi speakers are more comfortable in English it should not be an issuePunjabis can speak in Punjabi Tamilians can talk in Tamil and if they are comfortable they can talk in English All our court judgements are given in English what is this humein Hindi bolna chahiye We should speak in Hindi To impose something like this in our country or to say We are superior you learn our language but how can theyThey are not proficient in Hindi they are more comfortable in English which has become a part of our culture and society Lets not divide people further in the country bohot jhamele already chal rahe hai There are already a lot of issues lets not create another issue he addedAdding to the debate film lyricist Manoj Muntashir said the Hindi film industry should self reflect on why Hindi is missing from their daily lifeIts good to read and know English but the day makers of Hindi films start speaking Hindi in everyday life the soul of our films will rise once again The Hindi film industry has neither ended nor will it ever be A little introspection is needed and we will be back with a bang Muntashir wrote in HindiDevgns comments had sparked a debate on Hindi imposition as BJPs Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and NCs Omar Abdullah Congress Siddaramaiah and JDS H D Kumaraswamy had come out in support of Indias linguistic diversity