The Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK), a right-winged fringe group, is now demanding the arrest of actor Kamal Haasan for hosting the reality television show Big Boss, which, according to them, harms Indian sentiments. In an exclusive conversation with Arnab Goswami of Republic TV, Haasan explained why he was frequently targeted by such groups.
“I am mistaken by, what do you call, the deep Tamil groups. I am mistaken to be a Communist by Hindutva groups. The truth is I am a rationalist. I am willing to accept any good ideas coming from either side as long as it works along with the world logic,” he said.
Earlier on Republic TV, an HMK leader said that the actor and the show’s participants should be arrested for harming Tamil sentiments and propagating “vulgarity” and “intimate scenes” in the show. The same group even staged a protest last month to try and prevent Big Boss from being aired on TV.
When asked to react to the HMK’s protest, Haasan turned to Tamil poetry to make his point.
“Let me read poetry from Tamil, which is from the 2nd Century or even a prayer by Abirami Bhattar, which, Abirami Bhattar is one of the Shaivite Siddhars. And he describes Vedas equal to the Yoni. So what do you say to them? I mean I’m not intimidated by them, I am initiated by them.”
This isn’t the first time that Haasan has been targeted by the HMK. Earlier this year, the group accused Haasan of harming Hindu sentiments when he criticised the Indian epic Mahabharata.
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In a televised interview, the actor had said that Indians give a lot of respect to a book [the Mahabharata] which shows men gambling using a woman (Draupadi) as collateral. “In Mahabharata, Panchali was used as a pawn while the men gambled. She was used as a collateral. And India is a country that respects and honours a book that revolves around men using a woman to gamble away as if she were a mere object,” he said.
Subsequently, the Hindutva group filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against him in March.
Speaking about such cases, Haasan told Goswami, “I am just a pilloried whipping boy. I am growing new skin now.”
Listen to the full conversation here: