Madurai (TN): Chappals were hurled towards a vehicle from which actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan was addressing an election meeting in the Tirupparankundram Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday evening, police said.
One person has been detained, the police said, adding that the chappals missed the target and fell on the crowd. Haasan, founder of new political outfit Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), kicked up a controversy this week with his comment that free India’s first extremist was a Hindu, a reference to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse.
Stoking a controversy, Haasan had said that “free India’s first extremist was a Hindu”. “I am not saying this because this is a Muslim dominated area, but I am saying this before a statue of Gandhi. Free India’s first extremist was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it (extremism) starts,” he had said in bypoll bound Aravakurichi.
Haasan moved an anticipatory bail petition before the madras high Court bench here after it refused to entertain his earlier petition, seeking quashing of an FIR against him. The FIR against Haasan, founder of new political outfit Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), was registered by Aravakurichi police Tuesday under Sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which deal with ‘outraging religious feelings’ and ‘promoting enmity between different groups’ respectively. The MNM also filed complaints with police in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli against Milk and Dairy Development Minister KT Rajendira Bhalaji, who said Haasan’s tongue should be cut off for saying that free India’s “first extremist was a Hindu”.
