Birthday posters embarrass Kamal, warns

A spark that could have ignited Muslim ire against Kamal Haasan was quickly extinguished by the actor by issuing a stern warning to those masquerading as his fans who were trying to bring disrepute to him personally and his welfare associations.

The warning followed the appearance of posters on Anna Salai on Oct. 17 night purported to be in connection with Kamal's birthday on Nov.7, hailing him as "Prophet Nabi of the Tamil film world" . The posters also eulogized Kamal as Whiter than milk and "More philanthropic- minded than Pari Vallal" (in Tamil Paalaiyum Minjum Vellai Nirame and Pari Vallallum Kenjum Vallal Guname.

Who brought out these posters? It was printed as "Kalaignani Kamal Haasa-in Bhaktargal" ("Devotees of Kalaignani Kamal Hassan").

What infuriated a section the Muslim community in the City was comparing Kamal with Prophet Mohammed. This was brought to the notice of the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) which took strong exception to these posters and planned a protest and on behalf of TMMK, Hyder Ali even filed a complaint at the Police Commissioner's Office.

TMMK also took up the issue with Kamal's office in the City. Kamal was away in Andhra Pradesh for shooting.

An associate of Kamal in Chennai said they were shocked when they heard about these posters. His office received many threatening phone calls on Oct. 17 night. When Kamal was informed, he was very much upset and immediately issued a statement sternly warning the miscreants misusing his name.

Kamal's office staff went round and tore up the offending posters overnight.

In his statement, Kamal sternly warned the persons responsible to apologise and give an undertaking that they would not repeat such malicious deeds.

He said as the action of the "miscreants" not only wounded the feelings of a particular community but also hurt him personally, a stern warning would be more effective than issuing an appeal.

Recalling that he had for long kept away from all religious and communal divides, Kamal said that by apologizing those who were responsible for these posters would be doing a service to Tamil Nadu, a State known for its communal peace and religious amity. "My fans converted themselves into welfare associations to do social service 20 years ago," he pointed out.

Accepting Kamal's statement, the TMMK withdrew the police complaint. Its spokesperson said: "We did not want to precipitate a crisis, a communal problem. We found that Kamal had nothing to do with the posters nor were they the handiwork of his official welfare associations, so we dropped the protest plan."