CHENNAI / AGENCIES / WEB DESK
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislator and Tamil Nadu minister KT Rajendra Balaji on Monday said actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan’s tongue should be cut off for his “Hindu terrorism” remark.
“His tongue should be cut of..he has said (free India’s first extremist) was a Hindu. Extremism has no religion, neither Hindu nor Muslim nor Christian,” the State Minister for Milk and Dairy Development told reporters here and accused Haasan of “acting” to garner minority votes.
“He is acting and making such remarks to garner minority votes…,” he said.
Bhalaji, known for his outspoken remarks on various issues, charged the actor-politician with “spewing venom,” and accused the latter of making such comments to “satisfy someone.”
“Why are you spewing venom. Every word (Haasan utters) is venom. Haasan’s party which is sowing violence should be bannned and the Election Commission should act against him,”
Haasan had said at a rally in Aravakurichi Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu earlier in the day that Nathuram Godse was independent India’s first terrorist and he was a Hindu.
“Kamal Haasan’s tongue should be cut off for his remarks on Hindu terror,” ANI quoted the minister for milk and dairy development as saying. “He made these remarks to gain votes of minorities. We cannot blame the entire community for the act of one individual. The Election Commission should take action against the actor and ban his party.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party, meanwhile, moved the poll panel seeking action against Haasan, The party demanded that Haasan, the founder of the Makkal Needhi Maiam party, be banned from campaigning for five days.
“It is necessary to state that the statement was made deliberately in the presence of a Muslim majority crowd for electoral gain, which is clearly a corrupt practice under Section 123 (3) the Representation of the People Act 1951,” the saffron party told the commission.
BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who filed the complaint, said Haasan also violated the Model Code of Conduct as no one is allowed to appeal along caste or communal lines to secure votes. Upadhyay claimed that Haasan’s statement was “deliberate and malicious” and had endangered “harmony and brotherhood between communities”.
The BJP also urged the poll panel to file a first information report against the actor-turned-politician and take steps to cancel the registration of the Makkal Needhi Maiam.
Free India’s first terrorist was a Hindu: Kamal Haasan
Noted Cine star and Makkal Needhi Maiyam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan last evening stoked a controversy by saying “free India’s first terrorist was a Hindu,” referring to Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.
Addressing an election rally at Aravakurichi in Tamil Nadu on Sunday night, the actor-politician said he was one of those “proud Indians” who desired an India with equality and where the “three colours” in the Tricolour, an obvious reference to different faiths, “remained intact.”
He said, “I am not saying this because this is a Muslim-dominated area, but I am saying this before a statue of Gandhi. Free India’s first terrorist was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it (terrorism, apparently) starts.”
Mr. Haasan said he had come here “seeking answers for that murder.” He added,“Good Indians desire for equality and want the three colours in the Tricolour to remain intact. I am a good Indian, will proudly proclaim that.”
In November 2017, Mr. Haasan stoked a row, when he took potshots at what he termed “Hindu extremism.” It drew condemnation from the BJP and Hindu outfits.
Aravakurichi is one of the four Assembly constituencies in the State where bypolls are scheduled on May 19. The MNM has fielded S. Mohanraj from this segment.