Kamal Haasan death threat: Pinarayi, Tharoor demand Hindutva leader's arrest

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has condemned the comments reportedly made by a Hindutva outfit leader that people like actor Kamal Haasan should be "shot dead". 

Religious fanatics and radical minds issuing such threats should be immediately arrested, the Kerala CM posted on his Facebook page, two days after Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha leader Ashok Sharma reportedly said that people like Kamal Haasan should be shot dead. 

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"Strongly condemn such criminal attempts against Kamal Haasan's freedom of speech by threatening to murder him by Hindu Mahasabha leader(s). Such religious fanatics and radical minds issuing murder/assassination threats should be immediately arrested by the concerned authorities a stringent legal action is needed against these persons who threatened to kill Kamal Haasan," Pinarayi said. 

The Kerala CM also said the nation knows what happened to "Mahatma Gandhi, Pansare, Dhabolkar, Kalburgi, Gauri Lankesh and why?" 

"I strongly condemn anyone, following any religion or caste or gender, resorting to terrorism to accomplish their communal agenda to spread unrest in society and destabilise the country," Pinarayi added. 

Hindu terror exists, they indulge only in violence: Kamal Haasan

Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also expressed solidarity with Pinarayi. "This is beyond politics. I join Pinarayi Vijayan in demanding arrest and prosecution of those inciting violence against Kamal Haasan. #StopHate

On November 2, Kamal Haasan had in his column in Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan claimed that right-wing groups have taken to violence because their earlier "strategy" has stopped working. 

Sharma had reportedly said that those who make abusive remarks against Hindus should be punished severely. He had also called for a boycott of Kamal Haasan's films.