Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan today said he was "not intimidated" by the backlash over his comment that Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, "independent India's first extremist", was a Hindu. "Terrorists abound in all religions, none can claim that we are sanctimonious," Kamal Haasan told NDTV, defending his remarks that even led to slippers being thrown at him and a police complaint against him.
Earlier this week, slippers were thrown at Kamal Haasan during his campaign in Madurai. A Tamil Nadu minister, KT Rajenthra Bhalaji, controversially said his tongue should be cut off.
Kamal Haasan, whose new party Makkal Needhi Mayyam is debuting in this national election, told NDTV: "I don't feel intimidated by slipper and stone hurling."
He sought to clarify that his comment was "about harmony" and he would reach out to the Muslim, Christian and Hindu communities.
The veteran actor made the comment on Sunday while campaigning for the by-election in the town of Aravakurichi in Tamil Nadu's Karur district.
"I am not saying this because this is a Muslim-dominated area, but I am saying this before a statue of Gandhi. Independent India's first extremist (theevravaadi) was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it starts," Kamal Haasan said on the man who killed Gandhi in 1948.