Makkal Needhi Maiam founder and actor Kamal Haasan has urged the BJP to take action against its national secretary H. Raja for the controversial post advocating in a Facebook post the removal of social reformer Periyar E.V. Ramasamy’s statues. Mr. Raja has since disowned his post claiming that the administrator of his Facebook page had posted it without his knowledge.
Mr. Haasan told journalists in Chennai on March 7 that Mr. Raja’s comments were an attempt to distract attention from more important issues facing Tamil Nadu. “This looks like a digression from a discussion which is more important for Tamil Nadu. The time to form Cauvery Management Board is ticking and I feel this is an attempt to distract us from that fact,” he charged.
The BJP must take necessary action against Mr. Raja. “That will be a proper and decent thing to do,” said the actor-turned-politician.
Rejecting Mr. Raja’s explanation that the post was uploaded without his knowledge, Mr. Haasan said, “He has only expressed regret. That’s not enough.”
“We will take care of the prestige of Periyar and his statues,” he added.
