Kamal is not after the BJP’s kamal

A hardcore saffronite and BJP MP Vinay Katiyar has called him “mentally unstable”, a lawyer in Varanasi has filed a case against him for “hurting” religious sentiments, and Hindu Mahasabha vice-president Ashok Sharma wants him to be shot dead. The last from the leader of an outfit supposed to represent a religious philosophy that abhors violence!

In this cacophony, veteran actor Kamal Haasan, who has courted enough controversies in his long career in cinema, has remained as cool as a cat. In a tongue-in-cheek response he said: “If we ask them questions, they call us anti-nationals and want to put us in jail. Now since there is no space in jails, they want to shoot us and kill us... but in democracy, everyone has a right to express one’s mind.”

This response came while Haasan was addressing farmers in Chennai. The superstar, on the verge of plunging into the murky waters of politics, has had these abuses heaped on him because he recently wrote an article in the Tamil weekly Ananda Viketan that while earlier rightwing outfits would only argue with you without violence, “now extremism has spread into their camp as well”.

And ironically, Sharma has proved right what the actor said by his exact quote: “There is no other way to handle people like Kamal Haasan but to either hang them or shoot them dead!” Surely this statement defies all textbook definitions of pacifism!

Prakash Raj, another South Indian actor who abhors communalism and has been slaughtered on Twitter for his strident criticism of journalist Gauri Lankesh’s cold blooded murder, has said just that. “If instilling fear in the name of religion... culture... morality is not terrorising... then what is it. Just asking,” he tweeted. In other tweets Raj wondered if lynching people in the name of gau raksha, abusing and thrashing young couples through moral policing, etc, did not amount to “terrorising”. Ironically, a Muslim youth, supposedly the leader of a Muslim youth outfit from Aligarh, has offered a reward of ₹25,000 for blackening Haasan’s face. His grouse: the actor was trying to raise support for his political aspirations by driving a wedge between Hindus and Muslims.

What Haasan actually wrote in his column is only the proverbial last straw on the back of a camel that is extremely irritated at the actor’s political ambitions. He is expected to eventually launch his own party — perhaps on his birthday on November 7, when he has told his fans to expect a big announcement — and is meeting political leaders of all hues. What has made the BJP see red is his response after meeting Kerala Chief Minister P Vijayan that saffron is not the colour of his choice.

So let us look at what Haasan actually said: terrorism has spread into the fold of the rightwing. “Earlier, the rightwing Hindus employed debate, and not force, against people of other religions. Having realised that their attempts are failing, they have started using violence. This is not a victory or a sign of progress.” Haasan was also responding to Vijayan’s query on “the attempt by Hindutva forces to infiltrate into Tamil Nadu”. The rest of the column talked about Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian tradition and “social revolution” that was thousands of years old. So “there is no possibility that the attempt by fascists to shift the world towards the right will succeed. The shift towards the right is only a temporary fashion, a cosmetic change. It will not last.”

The BJP seeing red is not surprising because Haasan has also led from the front firm opposition to the Tamil Nadu BJP leaders’ futile attempt to whip up passion against the movie, Mersal , in which demonetisation and GST are criticised. Also, at a time when the warring factions of the AIADMK are seen to be controlled by New Delhi, Haasan has not only broken bread with a Left leader like Vijayan, but also praised Kerala’s leading indicators on the human development front. All this after shunning the BJP’s overtures.

To enter Tamil Nadu, the BJP desperately needs icons like Haasan, and of course Rajinikanth. But the two mega stars are as different as cheese and chalk; Rajini, though a slippery customer, would be easier to manage if he can be convinced that BJP rule would be good for Tamil Nadu. He too lauded on Twitter Team Mersal for standing its ground. But Haasan is a different kettle of fish altogether; he would like to lead and not be led.

As for the political future of Tamil Nadu, one thing is certain: it deserves much better than what it has. Also, the BJP kamal will not get Tamil Nadu’s Kamal.

COMMENT NOW