‘Said out of love, politicians not qualified to talk’: Kamal Haasan on language controversy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM(Kerala): In response to the controversy sparked by his recent comment suggesting that Kannada was born out of Tamil language, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president and actor Kamal Haasan on Wednesday clarified that his statement was made “out of love.”

Urging that such sensitive subjects be left to experts, Haasan said politicians— including himself—are not qualified to engage in academic discussions about language history.

“What I said was out of love, and a lot of historians have taught me language history. I didn’t mean anything,” Haasan said.

Haasan pointed out that leaders from various linguistic and regional backgrounds have served as the state’s Chief Ministers and said, “Tamil Nadu is a state where a Menon (MG Ramachandran) has been our Chief Minister, where a Reddy (Omandur Ramasamy Reddiyar) has been our Chief Minister, a Tamil (M Karunanidhi) has been our CM, and a Kannadiga Iyengar (J Jayalalithaa) has been our CM.”

“Politicians are not qualified to talk about language. They don’t have the qualifications to talk about it, including me. Let us leave all these very in-depth discussions to historians, archaeologists and language experts,” he added.

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan faced outrage after claiming that the Kannada language originated from Tamil.

Earlier in the day, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah slammed actor Kamal Haasan following his reported remark, ‘Kannada is born out of Tamil, and said that he was unaware of the language’s “long-standing” history.

Congress MLA from Karnataka, Rizwan Arshad, also expressed his disappointment over Haasan’s remark, calling it unfortunate and questioning the necessity of such a debate at a time when national unity is paramount.

“What kind of a debate is this? The Kannada language has a history of thousands of years… Kannada and Tamil are ancient languages and part of our country’s foundation… Is this debate necessary at a time when all of us have to be united? … I did not expect Kamal Haasan to make such a statement. It is unfortunate,” Arshad said.

Karantaka BJP president BY Vijayendra also launched a scathing attack on actor Kamal Haasan for his alleged remarks claiming that “Kannada has its roots in Tamil. “

He labelled the statement an insult to the Kannada language and the self-respect of 6.5 crore Kannadigas.

Protests were held near the INOX cinema hall in Karnataka’s Belagavi against Kamal Haasan. Karnataka Rakshana Vedike organised the protests, which expressed anger and demanded his apology.

Meanwhile, DMK slammed BJP for stirring controversy over actor Kamal Haasan’s reported statement “Kannada is born out of Tamil,” accusing the party of creating trouble and dividing people by misrepresenting historical references as insults.

DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan defended Haasan, arguing that his comment was likely a historical citation rather than a personal opinion, and emphasised that the focus should be on a language’s usage and impact rather than its origins. (ANI)