Senior actor and Makkal Nidhi Maiam (MNM) party president Kamal Haasan has stirred up a new controversy by making a statement on the Kannada language. He had made a statement that Kannada is a language that emerged from Tamil. After that, his statement is being condemned from Karnataka. There are demands for an apology. However, Kamal Haasan is firm on his statement and has refused to apologize.
“Whatever I said, I said out of love and based on my knowledge. Many historians have taught me the history of languages. There was no intention of insulting anyone. The issue of the origin of languages is very complex and should be discussed only by experts. “Politicians are not qualified to talk about languages. They do not have the necessary qualifications, I also came into it. Let us leave this issue to historians, archaeologists and linguists,” he said.
Referring to the political tradition of Tamil Nadu, Haasan said that Tamil Nadu is the only state where people from different backgrounds have become Chief Ministers. Menon, Reddy, Tamil and Kannadiga, Iyengar have also become Chief Ministers in Tamil Nadu. This shows the inclusiveness of our state.
Meanwhile, Congress and BJP leaders in Karnataka as well as some pro-Kannada organisations have strongly condemned Haasan’s statement. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, while responding to Haasan, said, “Kannada language has a great historical heritage. It is unfortunate that Kamal Haasan is not aware of it.”
BJP leader R. Ashok has criticized Haasan and called him a “mentally ill person”.
BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra wrote in a post on ‘X’, “Insulting another language is rude behavior. Especially artists should respect all languages. Kamal Haasan, who has acted in various languages, has said that insulting Kannada while praising Tamil, referring to Kannada actor Shivrajkumar, is the limit of his arrogance.
Meanwhile, the controversy created by Kamal Haasan’s statement has currently given a new lease of life to the discussion on linguistic identity in South India.
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