Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan on Wednesday defended his remarks that Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, was the first Hindu extremist of independent India , saying it was a historical fact.
“If a historical fact I point out hurts you, then this wound will never heal,” he said, adding that his speech did not trigger a communal clash.
In a related development, Mr. Haasan moved the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, seeking anctipatory bail in connection with a case registered against him for his controversial remarks.
Resuming his campaign for the byelection to the Tirupparankundram Assembly constituency on Wednesday, after a two-day break following his election speech at Aravakurichi that stirred up a row, Mr. Haasan said people had got irked by his remarks after they had been “edited” by the media. He claimed that the media had edited and repeatedly played the “wrong portion” of his speech in Aravakurichi.
Dwelling upon his speech at Aravakurichi, he made a veiled reference to the contention of some leaders who said that Godse should be seen as an individual and not be identified by his religion, and stressed that he had used the term ‘extremist’ ( theeviravadhi ) for Godse, as opposed to ‘terrorist’ .
Playing with words, he said that he was into intense ( theevira ) politics. “Our speech will reveal our intensity, but there will be no violence [in it],” he added.
Mr. Haasan said he had spoken at Aravakurichi about what his movie Hey Ram had dwelt on 20 years ago. Pointing out that he belonged to a Vaishnavaite family, he said that he would not ask people to tolerate other religions, but to accept them. “Religious and casteist pride will not stand for long,” he added.
Mr. Haasan warned his opponents not to attempt to shame him with his ideology. “You will be defeated as my ideology is based on honesty. You are trying to build a castle in the air with your ideology that is based on lies. Wherever you are — be it in New Delhi or in Chennai — you cannot cheat people with your lies for long. This government deserves to be defeated and we will defeat it in a democratic way,” he said.
If the cases lodged against him were meant to bar him from campaigning for the byelections, it would only backfire on his opponents, he said, adding, “All the people who love me will come out to campaign for me.”
The actor-turned-politician said that he had been raising his voice against any kind of injustice meted out to people even when he was an actor. Even his movies that had titles derived from caste names carried a message of co-existence, he pointed out.
