The BJP on Monday hit back at Makkal Needhi Maiyam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan saying that India’s first terrorist was a Hindu. At a rally in Tamil Nadu’s Aravakurichi last evening, Haasan referred to Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse as independent India’s first terrorist.

At his rally, Kamal Haasan said he was among those “proud Indians” who dream of an India with equality and where the “three colours” in the tricolour, referring to different faiths, “remained intact”. While pointing out that he was saying this before the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Haasan added that independent India’s first terrorist was a Hindu, whose name was Nathuram Godse. “There it (terrorism, apparently) starts,” he added.. The MNM chief, while referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, said he was “seeking answers for that murder.”

In a sharp reply, BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan said while the entire country was shocked when Mahatma Gandhi was killed, no one can justify it. She also observed that Godse was hanged for his deed. Issuing a statement, Soundararajan said, “Though he talks of taking forward a new kind of politics, he also indulged in the old, mischievous, poisonous and divisive vote bank politics.”

Soundararajan also took a dig at Haasan’s earlier statement in which he had threatened to leave the country after his film ‘Vishwaroopam’ had faced issues over portrayals of Muslims in the movie. “It is brazen acting that he is now talking about the country, Gandhi and patriotism,” she said.

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Actor Vivek Oberoi, who stars in PM Modi’s biopic, also slammed Haasan’s remarks. “Dear Kamal sir, you are a great artist. Just like art has no religion, terror has no religion either! You can say Godse was a terrorist, why would you specify Hindu? Is it because you were in a Muslim dominated area looking for votes?,” he tweeted. “Please sir, from a much smaller artist to a great one, let’s not divide this country, we are one Jai Hind..#AkhandBharat #UnDividedIndia,” he added in another tweet.