Kamal Haasan's comments on Sanatana Dharma land him in trouble, politicians claim he's trying to ‘divide people’

Kamal Haasan recently made a comment on Sanatana at the event held to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Suriya's charitable foundation Agaram.

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan recently attended the 15th anniversary celebration of Suriya’s charity, Agaram Foundation, in Chennai. His comments there on education countering Sanatana have not gone down well with the State Secretary of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, Amar Prasad Reddy, calling for a ban on his films.

Kamal Haasan recently stated that education is the only weapon against Sanatana and dictatorship. (PTI)

Political leader calls for ban on Kamal Haasan films

Amar posted a video on his X (formerly Twitter), calling for a boycott of Kamal’s films both in theatres and on OTT. He captioned the post, “I appeal to every Hindu - Boycott Kamal Haasan’s movies who wants to DESTROY Sanathana Dharma! Let this be a message: Speak against Sanatana Dharma, and face the consequences. Let’s see which actor dares to mock Hindus next.”

In the video, he says, “Vanakkam. Kamal Haasan, a very famous actor in his recent speech, he expressed his opinion that he wants to destroy Sanatana Dharma. Earlier, it was Udhayanidhi Stalin (Deputy CM of TN, actor) and now, Kamal Haasan. I appeal to every Hindu, every Sanatani, to teach a lesson to these kind of people. We should ignore watching Kamal Haasan movies, ignore even on OTT. Once we do this, these kinds of statements which hurts billions of Indians, billions of Hindus will not be shared by such people in public platforms. Jai Hind.”

BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan also condemned Kamal's statement and told ANI, “First, he raised the language issue, dividing people of different states. Now, he is raising the religious issue to divide people on religious sentiments.”

Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) national secretary general Surendra Jain criticised Kamal and told PTI, “Haasan cannot be innocent. He is deliberately working under an agenda to defame Hindu society.”

What did Kamal Haasan say?

Kamal, who is now a Rajya Sabha MP and founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), spoke about the value of education at the event for Agaram Foundation. Stating that only education can grant the power to change situations, he said, “In this war, only education has the power to change the nation. It’s the only weapon that can break the chains of dictatorship and Sanatana. Do not take any other weapon in your hands. You can’t win with any other weapon. Because you will be defeated by majoritarianism; ignorant majoritarians will defeat you.”

Recently, Kamal also faced flak before the release of his recent film Thug Life with Mani Ratnam, for claiming in Karnataka that Kannada was ‘born out of Tamil’. The controversy led to a halt to his film’s release in Karnataka as he refused to apologise. The Supreme Court later revoked the ban.