Southern states will not accept imposition of Hindi: Rajnikanth

Amid controversy over Union Home Minister Amit Shah's call to culturally unify India with Hindi as its national language, Veteran actor and politician Rajnikanth on Wednesday said that none of the southern states will accept imposition of Hindi and asserted that no language should be imposed.

"Hindi shouldn't be imposed. Not just Tamil Nadu but none of the southern states will accept the imposition of Hindi. Not only Hindi, but no language should be imposed," he told reporters here.

However, Rajnikanth advocated the idea of having a common language across the country and said it is good for the country's unity and progress.

"If there is a common language it is good for country's unity and progress but forcing a language is not acceptable," he said.

Earlier, Shah's comment on making Hindi as its national language triggered a row when some opposition leaders trained guns on him demanding to reconsider his appeal as it "poses a danger to the national unity".

Shah, in his address on Hindi Diwas, appealed to people to accept Hindi as the national language to get connected.