Chennai: Kamal Haasan, who has stepped up his anti-Hindu rhetoric in recent days, has come up with another remark targeted to hurt the dignity of Hindus. First was his comment about “Hindu Terror” and now he has said that there were no Hindus before the Mughals came and the word ‘Hindu’ was a foreign coinage.
He said that the poet-saints of Alwars and the Nayanmars, who lived during the times prior to Mughal invasion, had not mentioned the word ‘Hindu’ in their works. These poet-saints were great devotees of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva and were crucial in the spread of the Bhakti movement.
Actor-turned-politician, Kamal Haasan, who is a self-proclaimed atheist, floated the party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) to enter the political space left vacant by Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi. His politics is left leaning and liberal.
Last week, Kamal Haasan had hurt the Hindu sentiments by saying that the first terrorist of independent India was a Hindu, who killed Mahatma Gandhi. His statement was met with fierce opposition from the Hindu community after which he clarified his statement that terrorism has no religion.
Kamal Haasan’s “Hindu Terror” statement reminds of Congress attempts to create a Hindu terror narrative during the UPA rule. The Congress had falsely implicated many Hindu practitioners in the Samjhauta Express bomb blasts in a bid to give strength to their argument.
With the statement that the word Hindu did not exist before the coming of Mughals, the veteran actor is trying to negate the cultural identity that existed in the Indian sub continent long before the first Muslims entered India, not to speak of the Mughals who came to power only in the 16th Century.
Interestingly the flag of his party, depicts six hands holing each other to form a circle symbolizing the cooperation of five Southern states plus one Union Territory. This shows that the former actor do not view India has a single cultural unit and views it as a culturally divided geographical area.
His views come close to those left intellectuals and activists who are part of ‘India Breaking’ forces. Their anti-India stance was seen by the public in the Jawaharlal Nehru University issue, where left and jihadi supporters shouted ‘Pakistan Sindabaad’ slogans.
Kamal Haasan seems to be catering to this crowd who hold fierce anti-India positions by repeatedly commenting against Hindus and Hinduism. However, opposition to his anti-Hindu statements are getting violent. In a public meeting unidentified persons threw eggs and stones at him in protest against his insensitive remarks.
