PIL filed against Kamal Haasan by religious group for 'anti-Hindu' remark on Mahabharata

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed against Tamil veteran actor Kamal Haasan for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments and causing enmity between groups and cause disturbance to public tranquility.

The PIL is in regard to his comment on the epic Mahabharata given to a Tamil news channel. The Financial Express reports that Haasan expressed his shock at India celebrating a book in which a woman, Panchali, was depicted as an object and the men, the Pandvas, as her gamblers.

The same report quotes him as saying, “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.”

Now, India Today reports that a religious group, Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) of the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu has filed a PIL against the actor for his Mahabharata remark. They alleged that Haasan hurt their religious sentiments through his comments and also dubbed him as an anti-Hindu.

The report by The Financial Express quotes Rama Ravikumar, the state secretary of HMK, as saying, “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 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,” said Ravikumar, daring Haasan to speak in a similar tone against the Quran or the Bible.