Not Qualified To Talk About Language”: Kamal Haasan Clarifies After Backlash

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan, who sparked a massive row with his comment on the Kannada language, has now issued a clarification. “What I said was said out of love, and a lot of historians have taught me language history. I didn’t mean anything. Tamil Nadu is a state where a Menon has been our Chief Minister, where a Reddy has been our Chief Minister, a Tamil has been our Chief Minister, and a Kannadiga Iyengar has been our Chief Minister.”

“Kannada was born out of Tamil,” was the statement that triggered the controversy, uniting the BJP and Congress in their criticism of the veteran actor.

“Politicians not qualified to talk about language, including me,” Mr Haasan said this evening.

The controversy spiralled as pro-Kannada groups in Karnataka burned Kamal Haasan’s posters and a film association discussed a possible ban on him ahead of his upcoming release, “Thug Life,” directed by ace filmmaker Mani Ratnam.

The activists claimed that Kannada has a history spanning thousands of years and