A police complaint has been filed in Bengaluru against actor Kamal Haasan for his derogatory remarks on Mahabharata by Pranavananda Swami from Basaveshwara Mutt. This complaint has come one week after a PIL filed against the actor in the Tirunelveli District Court by the members of the Hindu Makkal Katchi for the same reason. The remark about the ancient Hindu epic, Mahabharat that has been in so much controversy off late was made by the actor during an interview with a Tamil channel. The actor had said, ‘In Mahabharata, Panchali was used as a pawn while the men gambled,’ he also said that ‘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 was a mere object.’
Earlier in the week, State secretary of Hindu Makkal Katchi, Rama Ravikumar in an interview to The News Minute said, “Kamal Haasan said that Mahabharata talks about a woman (Draupadi) who was used as a pawn and was gambled away and that this country reads such a book. There was no need for him to say these things. It has hurt our sentiments and who is he to talk about the Mahabharata?”
He also said, “When Vishwaroopam was released, several Muslims groups had protested against the movie (for allegedly depicting the community in a negative light). He had then said that there is no safety in this state and that he should go somewhere else and live.” Expressing his anger, he said, “He does not have the guts to talk about any other religion. He is an anti-Hindu person, so we complained against him. We have been suffering for long but haven’t been saying anything.”