Kamal Haasan summoned by Tamil Nadu court for remarks on Mahabharata

Actor Kamal Haasan has been summoned by a Tamil Nadu court in connection with remarks he made about the Mahabharata in March 2017. [caption id=“attachment_2189735” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kamal Hassan. File photo/AFP[/caption] A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed against the veteran actor for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments and causing enmity between groups and cause disturbance to public tranquility. It was filed after Haasan made certain comments about the Mahabharata to a Tamil news channel. The Financial Express had reported that Haasan expressed shock that Indians celebrated a book in which a woman (Panchali) was depicted as an object and men (the Pandvas), as gambling her away. The same report quotes him as saying, “In Mahabharata, Panchali was used as… collateral. India is a country that respects and honours a book that revolves around men gambling away a woman as if she was a mere object.” India Today reported that it was a religious group, Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) of the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, that filed the PIL against Haasan. They also dubbed him as an anti-Hindu. Meanwhile, Pranavananda Swami from the Basaveshwara Mutt also filed a police complaint against Haasan for the same remarks, demanding an apology from the actor. Parvananda Swami had told PTI, “It is unbecoming of actor Kamal Haasan to hurt the sentiments of any religious community, including Christians and Muslims. He has been in the thick of controversies even in the past, and we demand he should apologise.”