Kamal Haasan sparks outrage with ‘Kannada came from Tamil’ declare, BJP demand apology-OxBig News Network

Kamal Haasan
| Photo Credit: Johan Sathya Das

Actor and politician Kamal Haasan has ignited a political firestorm along with his current assertion claiming that the Kannada language “was born out of Tamil.” The comment, made in the course of the audio launch of his upcoming movie Thug Life in Chennai, has drawn fierce backlash in Karnataka, significantly from the BJP and pro-Kannada teams who demanded a direct and unconditional apology.

While sharing the stage with Kannada actor Shivarajkumar, Haasan opened his speech with “Uyire Urave Tamizhe” (“My life, and my family, is in Tamil language”), earlier than making the now-controversial comment: “Your language (Kannada) was born out of Tamil, so you too are included.” Intended maybe as a gesture of cultural unity, the remark has since as a substitute stirred accusations of linguistic vanity and disrespect.

Karnataka BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra condemned Haasan’s remarks as “uncultured” and “insulting” to Kannada and its 6.5 crore audio system. “It is the height of arrogance that Kamal Haasan, who has acted in many Indian languages including Kannada, has insulted Kannada in the name of glorifying Tamil,” Vijayendra wrote on social media platform X. He additionally questioned Haasan’s authority to talk on the linguistic origins of Kannada, saying, “He [Kamal Haasan] is not a historian.”

The BJP chief additionally accused Haasan of repeatedly hurting non secular and cultural sentiments, stating, “Kamal Haasan, who is supposed to bring harmony to South India, has been continuously insulting Hinduism and hurting religious sentiments for the past few years. Now, he has insulted Kannada by hurting the self-respect of 6.5 crore Kannadigas.”

Pro-Kannada teams have additionally joined the protest. Activists from the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike tore down posters of Thug Life in Bengaluru and issued threats of a statewide ban on the movie, set to launch on June 5. “You want to do business in Karnataka and show your movies, stop insulting Kannada and Kannadigas,” warned Praveen Shetty, president of the outfit.

With a documented historical past stretching again over 2,500 years, Kannada is without doubt one of the oldest surviving Dravidian languages that’s distinct from Tamil, not a by-product of it. Both languages share historic roots within the broader Dravidian household, however developed independently with their very own scripts, grammar, and literary traditions.