Actor Kamal Haasan has been summoned by a court in Tamil Nadu in connection with remarks he made about the Mahabharata in March 2017.A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by a group called Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) against the ‘Viswaroopam’ actor for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments and causing enmity between groups and cause disturbance to public tranquility. They also called him an anti-Hindu.

It had been reported that Kamal Haasan voiced concern that Indians celebrated a book in which a woman (Panchali) was depicted as an object and men (the Pandvas), as gambling her away. He was quoted saying, “In Mahabharata, Panchali was used as… collateral. India is a country that respects and honours a book that revolves around men gambling away a woman as if she was a mere object.”

It is not just HMK, Pranavananda Swami from the Basaveshwara Mutt has also filed a police complaint against Haasan for the same remarks, demanding an apology from the actor.
Parvananda Swami had told PTI, “It is unbecoming of actor Kamal Haasan to hurt the sentiments of any religious community, including Christians and Muslims. He has been in the thick of controversies even in the past, and we demand he should apologise.”