Actor-turned-politician and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has come out strongly in support of Hindi as the Rashtra Basha (national language), saying it is akin to a peddamma (maternal aunt) in relation to one’s own mother tongue.
“If our native language is ‘amma’, Hindi is like ‘peddamma’. It is the only language that connects people across the diverse regions of the country. Learning Hindi should not be seen as surrendering our identity, but as keeping pace with others. If we can accept Urdu or Persian, why not Hindi?” the actor-turned-politician questioned, speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Rajya Bhasha Vibhag of the Union Home Ministry in Hyderabad on Friday.
While asserting that he does not intend to undermine the importance of regional languages, he stressed that Hindi, as Rashtra Basha, plays a crucial unifying role.
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“Languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Odia are vibrant and living languages, and I deeply respect them. But Hindi is our Rashtra Bhasha. Ironically, many southern businessmen have no qualms in doing business with Hindi-speaking people in the North, and yet raise objections when it comes to recognising Hindi’s broader role,” he said.
He also drew a comparison with English, stating that learning Hindi is not about replacement but addition.
“Just as we gained immensely in IT and other sectors by learning English, adopting Hindi does not mean giving up our mother tongues. Once we move outside our respective states, Hindi becomes our language,” he asserted.
Defying stereotypes
Pawan Kalyan’s endorsement comes at a time when there is growing resistance in South India against the perceived imposition of Hindi by the Centre. Notably, it also contradicts his own fierce opposition to Hindi just a few years ago.
In a 2017 post on Twitter, Kalyan had written: “North Indian political leadership should understand & respect the cultural diversity of our Country.”
His latest remarks are expected to trigger strong reactions, especially in states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, where linguistic identity is a deeply emotive and political issue.
In Tamil Nadu, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and other regional parties have consistently opposed what they call attempts to impose Hindi.
They have long argued that promoting Hindi at the expense of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, or Malayalam amounts to cultural and linguistic marginalisation.
Although he heads the Jana Sena Party, Pawan Kalyan is often seen as ideologically aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party, with which his party is in alliance. His endorsement of Hindi is likely to be read in that context, and may further fuel suspicions among opposition parties in the South that the BJP is pushing a larger Hindi-centric national identity narrative in yet another different way.
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