BENGALURU: The Chief Whip of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, N Ravi Kumar, has lashed out at Tamil actor Kamal Haasan, accusing him of showing “height of arrogance” and “willful disobedience” by refusing to apologise, despite a direction from the Karnataka High Court.
Meanwhile, Minister Rahim Khan, speaking to the media, said that Haasan should apologise for his remark or appropriate action would be taken. Earlier, BJP state president BY Vijayendra had said, “... he should not speak lightly of the Kannada language.
Not apologising speaks of his arrogance. He should shed his immature attitude and apologise.’’ In a strongly worded statement issued on Wednesday, Ravi Kumar said Haasan’s defiance of the HC directive is “absolutely condemnable”.
“While Kamal Haasan may be a talented actor, he has repeatedly proven to be a poor politician, inviting controversy after controversy,” Ravi Kumar charged, adding, “He is neither a language expert nor a historian to pontificate on the origin and history of languages.”
Ravi Kumar urged Haasan to “stick to what he knows best — acting — and stop interfering in matters in which he has no expertise”. Referring to Haasan’s alleged remarks about Kannada, Ravi Kumar said: “The actor has insulted Kannada and hurt the sentiments of millions of Kannadigas. I demand that he comply with the High Court’s observations and tender an unconditional and genuine apology.