Actor Rajinikanth has now entered the controversy around a video about a Tamil Hindu song, Kantha Sashti Kavasam, and has applauded the Tamil Nadu government for their actions on the issue. In a tweet on Wednesday, the Superstar backed the actions of the government against Karuppar Koottam, and their decision to remove the group’s videos from YouTube.
“My heartfelt applause for the Tamil Nadu government for their action against people who defamed the Kantha Sashti Kavasam in a disgusting manner, and hurt the sentiments of several crore Tamil people, in a manner that we can never forget in our lives. I applaud the government for intervening in the issue and taking the related videos down. At least now, let religious hatred and disrespect towards god end,” Rajinkanth tweeted, with a salutation for god Murugan. “All religions are the same, Kanthanuku Arogara,” he added.
The controversy surrounds a video put out by rationalist group Karuppar Koottam – a commentary on Kantha Sashti Kavasam, a song in praise of god Murugan. After several people accused the group of making derogatory comments, members of Karuppar Koottam were arrested. On Tuesday, 500 videos uploaded by the rationalist group on YouTube were taken down on the orders of the Tamil Nadu Cyber Crime branch.
Those arrested include the anchor who fronted the video – Surendra Natarajan – and three others, including Senthilvasan of Velachery, Somasundaram of Otteri and Guhan of Maraimalai Nagar.
Rajinikanth’s tweet supporting government action in the issue comes at a time when controversy is raging over the issue. While the DMK, which many people said had backed Karuppar Koottam, has distanced itself from the group, several commentators have questioned whether an arrest was even necessary in the middle of a pandemic over a video. Many others meanwhile have supported action against the group over hurting religious sentiments.
#கந்தனுக்கு_அரோகரா pic.twitter.com/zWfRVpufXk
— Rajinikanth (@rajinikanth) July 22, 2020
Rajini – who has been promising to enter politics for a few years now – earlier condemned the Sathankulam police for the custodial death of the father-son duo Jeyaran and Bennix. Condemning the police excesses in the case, he tweeted, “At a time when everyone are condemning the torture of father and son, I am shocked to see the behaviour of the police personnel in the presence of the Kovilapatti magistrate. Everyone should get an apt punishment and we should not let them go.”
Though Rajinikanth has earlier received criticism for not reacting to the political developments in the state, the Rajini Makkal Mandram leader has recently reacted to the two issues.
A close aide of the superstar, Karate Thiagarajan meanwhile, has been hinting that the superstar will start a political party in November this year. He also said that the leader was unable to start the party in August due to the coronavirus pandemic.