Actor- politician Kamal Haasan has sparked a new political outcry once again with his new Sanatana Dharma remarks, and the actor has drawn flak on his statement by a number of political stalwarts. In a speech at an event in Chennai, Haasan said: That education is the only tool to snap the chains of dictatorship and Sanatana Dharma as he spoke against NEET examination. Politicians, particularly those of the BJP, have so largely denounced this statement as an attempt made by him to segregate people on religious basis and use this factor politically.
The comments have evoked a controversial debate, which bears semblance of a comparable clash in the year 2023 when Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin made a comparable statement. The words of Haasan are being perceived by the critics as a political intrigue to raise the votes of a specific segment of electorate and arouse religious sentiments especially in a politicized climate.
The Political Backlash and Defiance
The first reaction to this statement of Kamal Haasan was of acute political rebuke by the opposition parties. The initial political response was the one by BJP leaders who made fun of the statement through ridicule by Tamil Nadu state vice-president Khushbu Sundar among others. They said that although he was keen on emphasizing the importance of education, he should not have made the reference to Sanatana Dharma since it is a divisive factor.
I appeal to every Hindu – Boycott Kamal Haasan’s movies who wants to DESTROY Sanathana Dharma!
Let this be a message: Speak against Sanatana Dharma, and face the consequences.
Let’s see which actor dares to mock Hindus next.@ikamalhaasan 😡 pic.twitter.com/yTENyepx0y
— Amar Prasad Reddy (@amarprasadreddy) August 4, 2025
And some BJP leaders have gone east, demanding an apology and accusing him of doing so to appease his political allies. Such sharp response points to the sheer weakness of the subject matter and the existent ideology in Indian politics.
Education vs. Ideology: A Misunderstood Standpoint?
At the centre of the argument by Haasan as supported by his followers is that of education vs ideology. He made the comments at an occasion, when talking about how difficult a task is placed on poor students attending schools because of NEET exam. He positioned education as the means of reaching social mobility and empowerment par excellence, implying that such education might dismantle the system of restrictions and discriminations, which he estimated with dictatorship and Sanatana Dharma at once.
His advocates feel that he was not out to rail against a religion as such but a philosophical claim as to the strength of knowledge to precipitate the stagnant interests of society and bring to the fore advances in conventionally abandoned modes. His critics however, see this as a manipulative misrepresentation and a political jibe and using it as a sensitive issue to drive personal and party interests.
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