Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Friday commented on the Sanatan row triggered by Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and said a young kid (Udhayanidhi) is being hounded just because he spoke about Sanatan. Everyone got to know the word sanatan because of Periyar, Kamal Haasan said adding that only Tamil Nadu — no political party — can claim Periyar as their own. “All of us got to know about the word ‘Sanatan’ because of Periyar. He once used to work in the temple. He was doing ‘puja’ in Varanasi with ’tilak’ on his forehead. Imagine how much anger he must have had to throw away all that and work in service of the people realising that it’s the biggest service. He lived his entire life like that. Neither the DMK nor any other party can claim Periyar as their own. Tamil Nadu can celebrate Periyar as its own,” Kamal Haasan said
Kamal Haasan offered his view on the controversy earlier too and called Udhayanidhi’s statement comparing Sanatan with dengue, malaria his personal view on Sanatan. “If you disagree with his viewpoint, it is important to engage in a discussion based on the merits of Sanatana instead of resorting to threats of violence or legal intimidation tactics, or distorting his words to evoke emotional responses for narrow political gains,” Kamal Haasan tweeted during the peak of the controversy.
The Sanatan row became a major flashpoint between the BJP and the Opposition after PM Modi accused the INDIA bloc of trying to destroy Sanatan after Udhayanidhi’s remark. The Opposition was a divided house over this comment and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin urged his party members to not comment on this.
However, Udhayanidhi himself did not restrain himself from further commenting on Sanatan. After parliamentary proceedings moved to the new building, Udhayanidhi said President Droupadi Murmu was invited because she is a widow and tribal.
