News Brief
In Controversial Remarks, Kamal Haasan Calls Education A Weapon Against ‘Sanatan’; He Had Earlier Said Cholas Were Not Hindus
Actor Kamal Haasan.
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Sunday described education as the only weapon capable of dismantling “the shackles of dictatorship and Sanatan”. He was speaking at an event organised by actor Suriya’s Agaram Foundation in Chennai, India Today reported.
“Don’t take anything else in your hands, only education,” he told the audience, arguing that knowledge alone could counter majority ignorance: “Majority fools will make you lose; knowledge alone will seem defeated. That’s why we must hold on to it firmly.”
Praising the Foundation for supporting thousands of underprivileged children, Haasan said, “True education and unconditional love are hard to come by. Apart from our mothers, institutions like Agaram Foundation are among the few places where we can still find them.”
Reflecting on the difference between cinema and social work, he remarked, “In cinema, we are crowned for our performances. But in social work, we are given a crown of thorns.”
During his address, Haasan cited a recent conversation with Chief Minister MK Stalin and said NGOs were not seeking money but permission to serve. “He assured me that steps are being taken in that direction,” he noted.
He closed his address with a reflection on leadership: “Leadership is that which disappears into the society and not that stands and rules. It took me 70 years to understand this.”
These remarks come a few years after he had claimed that the Cholas were not Hindus. “Cholas were not Hindus. The term did not even exist then. Religion has been used later to define them,” he said.
