The High Court of Karnataka slammed actor Kamal Haasan for his controversial statement, saying that Kannada is born out of the Tamil language. The court questioned whether he is a historian to pass such statements and further ordered Kamal Haasan to apologise for his statements and settle the matter.
Recently, during the promotional event of Thug Life in Karnataka, Kamal Haasan said that Kannada is born out of Tamil. This statement didn’t go well with the people of Karnataka. Taking offence at Kamal’s statements, the Kannada Film Chamber also called for a ban on Thug Life in Karnataka. Challenging the ban, Kamal’s Raaj Kamal Films filed a petition in the High Court.
Upon hearing the petition, Single-judge Justice M Nagaprasanna said that Kamal has undermined people’s sentiments regarding language. He said, “No citizen has the right to hurt sentiments. Jala, Nila, Bashe – these three things are important to citizens….Language is a sentiment attached to a particular people. You have said something to undermine that.”
Justice Nagaprasanna also questioned whether Kamal is a historian to pass such statements. “If a public figure makes a statement like this. No language can be born out of another – where is the material? And what has happened – disharmony. And what have people of Karnataka asked? (Only) an apology. The circumstances were created by Kamal Haasan, and he has said he won’t apologise? You have undermined the sentiments of the people of Karnataka… On what basis? Are you a historian or a linguist?” the court stated.
Upon the court’s order, Kamal Haasan issued an official statement to the Karnataka Film Chamber, expressing that his statements were misunderstood and misinterpreted. He said that his words were intended to convey that all South Indian languages come from the same family and not to diminish the Kannada language in any way.
Meanwhile, Kamal didn’t formally apologise in his statement directly. So, it has to be seen if Karnataka Film Chamber acccepts the apology and lifts the ban.
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