After A R Rahman, Actor Prakash Raj Says 'We Love Our Mother Tongue' As Hindi Row Flares Up

Prakash Raj has responded strongly to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent remarks that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English.

New Delhi: After A.R. Rahman, multi-lingual actor Prakash Raj has responded strongly to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent remarks that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English.

Quoting a media report that had Shah's statement -- "People from different states should speak in Hindi, not English" -- as its headline, Raj said on Twitter: "Don't try to break homes Mr Home Minister ... We dare you #stopHindiImposition. We love our diversity. We love our mother tongue. We love our identities. #JustAsking."

Check out the tweet here:

Although Raj's mother tongue is Kannada, he has found a space for himself in all the four South Indian film industries, and his Hindi cinema, with his fine acting.

Several other actors, directors and technicians from various South Indian film industries also have expressed concerns at Hindi being imposed on non-Hindi speaking states.

Prakash Raj's statement comes in the wake of the Home Minister's observation that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English during a meeting of the parliamentary official language committee.

Earlier, music composer and director A R Rahman, took to social media on Friday to post about "Beloved Tamil" in response to Amit Shah's comment that individuals from other states should speak with each other in Hindi and not English.

The 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Business Language Committee was presided over by Amit Shah, the committee's chairman and Home Minister. Amit Shah, who spoke during the gathering, provided an overview of the history of the Hindi language and its evolution.

Amit Shah had pointed out the fact that individuals from various states should communicate with one another in Hindi and that Hindi should be considered as a viable alternative to the English language.