Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao on Thursday compared actor Kamal Haasan to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed.
"There has been a tendency in this country we have seen in the past decade how Sonia Gandhi-Rahul Gandhi led Congress party drew a strategy of maligning the Indian society and Hindu community only to appease the Muslim vote bank. It was done by the former home minister P. Chidambaram and Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shindey saying it on the floor of Parliament that there is Hindu terror in this country. Today, when Kamal Hassan makes similar comments, he is actually joining the ranks of P. Chidambaram, Hafiz Saeed and is possible angling to become an extension of the Congress Party," Rao told ANI.
Rao also said by passing such remarks all these people have given Pakistan an upper hand.
"Haasan also has a close tie with the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala and completely closes his eyes to the kind of violence and red terror that has been perpetrated there. Therefore, he is looking at the issue from a very narrow perspective," Rao said.
"People of Tamil Nadu will reject this type of cheap politics which Kamal Hassan is also trying to play," he added.
Speaking on the same issue Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Rakesh Sinha said actor Kamal Haasan "is trying to protect PFI."
Sinha further sought apology from Hassan.
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"Haasan must apologise for hurting Hindu civilisation, defaming it, and trying to create provocation for his petty political end," he said.
"Kamal Hassan wants to enter politics but the road he is taking; he is engraving his own grave," he added.
Haasan in his column in the weekly Ananda Vikatan wrote, "In the past, Hindu right-wing groups would not indulge in violence, but they would hold a dialogue with the opposite parties on their arguments. But this old tactic was defeated and what they stated to do is use muscle power. They started indulging in violence".