Chennai: When an issue is as important and volatile in celebrity debate as the Centre’s action in Kashmir and superstar Rajinikanth producing an adulatory script with the cinematic Mahabharat touch - likening Amit Shah and Narendra Modi to Krishna and Arjuna - there are bound to be many sparks, from multiple directions.
Add to that the hard talk by another super-actor, Vijay Sethupathi, slamming the abrogation of Art 370 as 'undemocratic' and quoting Periyar for support, and the narrative gets hotter. Quite a few ‘side-actors’ have jumped into the fray swinging their hands in karate chops, such as ‘Emperor among Poets’ Vairamuthu who backed Sethupathi and went a step further in his song. “First the views of the people of entire Kashmir must be gathered before any decision”, was his song in angst when reporters in Coimbatore asked him about Kashmir, Rajinikanth and Vijay Sethupathi.
In an interview with SBS Tamil radio in Australia, Sethupathi had said the Central action in Kashmir was ‘undemocratic’ and he was pained by the reports coming from the valley. TN Tamil language & culture minister Mafoi K Pandiarajan was not happy with Sethupathi's Kashmir diagnosis. “He is a good actor with several sensitive roles to his credit. And celebrities like him must first do their homework before making statements on sensitive issues. If only he had checked out the background, he would have understood that the Centre has now corrected a historic mistake (Art 370, special status)”, the soft-spoken minister said.
But then, the ruling AIADMK is the lone warrior fighting the BJP cause on the Kashmir operation, whereas almost the entire Opposition and Left activists in the state have slammed the Centre on the issue and slammed the AIADMK even harder, calling it a slave of the saffron party. Leading the attack is the DMK that called the abrogation of 370 a murder of democracy, while Congress senior P Chidambaram said an extremely tense situation has been created by Central restrictions.
“They may next make Tamil Nadu a Union Territory. Will you keep quiet? Only the AIADMK will keep quiet, with folded hands, even falling at their (Centre) feet, shamelessly”, thundered Chidambaram at a Congress rally against the Kashmir operation. CPI-M leader Balakrishnan wanted Rajini to read Mahabharat "again and again" to be able to understand the truth that Amit Shah and Modi “are actually Shakuni and Duryodhana”.
