Actor-politician Kamal Haasan found himself in the middle of a controversy on Sunday after he referred to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir as 'azad Kashmir' and asked why India was afraid to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir. He was speaking at an event in Chennai, and made his statement in response to the attack in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
Haasan, who founded the Makkal Needhi Maiam party in Tamil Nadu, said that soldiers wouldn't die if politicians behaved. “The Line of Control will be under control,” he said. Haasan spoke of an article he had written about the future of Kashmir, when he was running a magazine, Maiyam, earlier. “I mourn this day because I forecast that this is what will happen, unfortunately, I should have predicted something else,” Haasan said. “Hold plebiscite and make people talk...why have they not conducted it? What are they scared of?,” he said.
He also said that photographs of jihadis were put up on trains across the border. “That much of attraction even the film stars here in India won’t get. That’s also a foolish thing. But India is also committing the same. It’s not fair, if we want to prove we are a far better country, we should not behave like them,” he said. Haasan said that this where a new political culture should come in.
After the backlash, Haasan's party Makkal Needhi Maiam issued a statement on Monday, clarifying his statement. The party condemned the media report and said Haasan's statements were taken out of context. “The references made in the Times Now report were mentioned by our party president in the context of a magazine article published three decades ago about an option that available at one point in time of history,” the statement said. “This is no longer relevant and is no way an indication of his position or party’s position today.”