Kamal Haasan's Verbal Gaffes

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 7 August 2025 Actor, Rajya Sabha MP and founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), Kamal Haasan, has landed in a political row for his remark against Sanatana Dharma at an event in Madras on Sunday (August 3, 2025), facing backlash from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members and Sanatana Dharma supporters on social media. On Sunday, Kamal participated in the 15th anniversary celebrations of Agaram Foundation, Tamil actor Suriya’s charitable organisation that has helped over 6,700 first-generation graduates realise their dream of higher education. While speaking at the event, Kamal praised Suriya’s efforts and urged youngsters to wield education as their weapon. Kamal, who is now a Rajya Sabha MP and founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), spoke about the value of education at the event for Agaram Foundation. Stating that only education can grant the power to change situations, he said, “In this war, only education has the power to change the nation. It’s the only weapon that can break the chains of dictatorship and Sanatana. Do not take any other weapon in your hands. You can’t win with any other weapon. Because you will be defeated by majoritarianism; ignorant majoritarian will defeat you.” Recently, Kamal also faced flak before the release of his recent film Thug Life with Mani Ratnam, for claiming in Karnataka that Kannada was ‘born out of Tamil’. The controversy led to a halt to his film’s release in Karnataka as he refused to apologise. The Supreme Court later revoked the ban. Kamal Haasan calls himself an avowed atheist and that's okay. But zeroing in on Sanatana Dharma is stupidity. He could have said that education could break the chains of all man-made religions, their gods, books, superstitions, hoary-old customs, rituals and all sorts of obscurantism. Instead, he only mentioned Sanatana. That's a deliberate attempt to rile the Sanatanis or neo-Hindus. He could jolly well have averted this comment or diluted it by including all bogus religions. A few years ago at a southern varsity, Kamal Haasan urged the students to educate themselves and develop scientific temperament to challenge the hegemony of all religions. No one objected because what he stated was very relevant. Only through proper education can we eliminate all religions and regressive religious thoughts that have eclipsed our rationality. He should stick to that. Now this 70-plus veteran is suffering from foot-in-mouth syndrome. He must curb his tendency to make verbal gaffes. All said and done, one can still give Kamal the benefit of the doubt as he hates the word Sanatan and calls it a recent religio-political construct of the current political dispensation. That's also true. All sane and sensible people, even truly educated Hindus, abhor the exasperating terms Sanatan and Sanatanis. Aren't you also averse to using the word Sanatan? ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/kamal-haasan-verbal-gaffes/d/136427 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism