Chennai: Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president, Kamal Haasan, was reportedly attacked by slippers on Wednesday, while he was campaigning in Tirupparankundram assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai.
As reported by NDTV, the slipper attack came three days after Haasan had said that “independent India’s first terrorist was a Hindu”, referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse.
Reportedly, a police complaint has been lodged, naming eleven people, including BJP workers and members of another outfit, Hanuman Sena. Police said that slippers were thrown at the MNM chief who was addressing the meeting from a vehicle. None of the slippers hit Haasan and fell on the crowd gathered at the meeting.
“A group of people tried to create a ruckus and someone attempted to hurl a chappal from the rear end of the meeting area. However, it didn’t land anywhere near Kamal Haasan,” the police commissioner of Madurai was reported as saying.
Hindu Munnani’s Karur district secretary, KV Ramakrishnan, had registered a complaint against Haasan, a few days after his Godse remark, saying that Haasan had promoted enmity among two religious groups. An FIR was registered under sections 153A (promoting enmity
between different groups on grounds of religion) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code.
Haasan had approached the court on Wednesday, pleading that the complaint against him be dismissed. However, Justice B Pugalendhi stated that the court could not get involved at the current stage of events. The judge further advised that Kamal Haasan apply for anticipatory bail in view of the situation, which he has done.
Haasan has even defended his statement and said that people are misinterpreting him. “In Aravakurichi I said independent India’s first extremist was a Hindu. It is a historical truth,” he stated. He further added that all his family members were Hindus and that he would not speak in a manner which would hurt their beliefs.
Strikingly, BJP’s Bhopal candidate and 2008 Malegaon blast accused, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, condemned Haasan’s Godse remark saying that he was a true patriot. Sadhvi Pragya said, “Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt, is a deshbhakt and will remain a deshbhakt. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections.”
Aravakurichi and Tirupparankundram are among the four assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu where bypolls are scheduled on Sunday. Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam or the MNM, which has made a debut this national election, have fielded candidates from these seats.
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