Kamal Haasan's War On Sanatan Dharma Exposes Deep-Rooted Hinduphobia
From films to political rhetoric, Kamal Haasan's consistent vilification of Sanatan Dharma reveals not reformist zeal, but a calculated ideological attack on Hindu identity
On August 3, 2025, Tamil actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan, speaking at an event organised by the Agaram Foundation, declared that 'education is the only weapon that can break the chains of dictatorship and Sanatan." He urged students to fight 'majority fools" using knowledge and education, an unsubtle attack on what he described as Sanatan Dharma, equating it to tyranny and oppression.
This was not an offhand remark. It was part of a long-standing pattern of statements and actions that betray Haasan's deep ideological hostility toward Hinduism. Behind the façade of progressive intellectualism lies a deeply troubling Hinduphobic streak that seeks not reform but erasure of Sanatan Dharma's foundational place in Indian civilisation.
Targeted Again
Haasan's remarks are reminiscent of the now-infamous comments made by Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin in 2023, who compared Sanatan Dharma to diseases like dengue and corona, calling for its 'eradication." These are not isolated slip-ups. They represent a larger ideological blueprint rooted in the Dravidian political ethos that misrepresents Hinduism as nothing more than a tool of Brahminical oppression.
Haasan, who claims to be an atheist but has admitted to evangelising Christianity in the past, continues to demonstrate selective intolerance, particularly toward Hinduism. He has never used such harsh metaphors for other religions or religious institutions. The problem lies not with religion per se, but with the Hindu identity that Sanatan Dharma represents.
Kamal Haasan's political activism and cinematic projects reflect a persistent effort to vilify Hinduism. In 2019, he infamously labelled Nathuram Godse, Gandhi's assassin, as 'free India's first terrorist," solely because he was a Hindu. In 2017, he declared that 'extremism has spread even among Hindus," and that they have become violent.
In 2022, Haasan dismissed the existence of Hinduism during the Chola era, saying the British had coined the term 'Hindu" to club together Vaishnavites and Shaivites. This distortion ignores the spiritual unity and cultural continuity that Sanatan Dharma has always maintained among its diverse sects. Vaishnavism and Shaivism are not disconnected tribal cults; they are deeply embedded traditions within Hinduism.
His views on films like The Kerala Story, which was inspired by real accounts of Hindu girls being radicalised and trafficked into terrorist networks, are equally revealing. While he dismissed it as 'propaganda," he has never acknowledged the overtly anti-Hindu content of his movies, many of which routinely mock deities and Hindu practices. From trivialising Lord Murugan in Kaadhala Kaadhala (1998) to turning Lord Shiva into a bubble-gum-chewing caricature in Pammal K. Sambandam (2002), his filmography reveals a consistent undertone of mockery and ridicule directed at Hindu beliefs.
The Dravidianist Playbook
Haasan's statements fit neatly into the broader Dravidianist strategy of painting Sanatan Dharma as synonymous with 'Brahminism" and therefore oppressive. This reductionist equation fails to understand or willfully ignores that Sanatan Dharma is not limited to any caste or community. It encompasses a vast spiritual, philosophical, and cultural spectrum from tribal traditions to temple rituals, from Advaita Vedanta to Bhakti poetry.
Periyarism, the ideological fountainhead of the DMK and its offshoot, has always used anti-Brahminism as a convenient disguise for anti-Hinduism. Haasan, although technically an outsider to the DMK, finds his relevance today in echoing these divisive themes. His open support for Udhayanidhi Stalin's call to 'eradicate" Sanatan Dharma, masked as a reformist concern for social justice, is an ideological fraud. Reform is not the goal; cultural and religious obliteration is.
Education As A Weapon?
The irony of Kamal Haasan invoking education as a tool to 'break" Sanatan Dharma cannot be overstated. Historically, Sanatan Dharma has been the bedrock of Indian intellectual tradition, producing timeless treatises in mathematics, philosophy, medicine, and metaphysics. From the Vedas to the Upanishads, from Panini's grammar to Aryabhata's astronomy, Hindu thought has always fostered intellectual inquiry and debate.
To claim that education must be used to 'break" such a tradition is not just ignorant, it is malicious. Education, in its true form, seeks to understand and elevate, not destroy. What Haasan seems to advocate is indoctrination masquerading as enlightenment.
Politics Over Principle
Let us not pretend this is about ideology alone. Kamal Haasan's political ambitions have long floundered. His party, Makkal Needhi Maiyam (MNM), has failed to make electoral inroads. In this vacuum, Hinduphobia becomes an easy ticket to stay relevant, especially in Tamil Nadu, where anti-Hindu rhetoric often wins brownie points in elite intellectual circles and among so-called progressives.
By slandering Sanatan Dharma, Haasan aligns himself with a class of elites who view Hindu traditions as regressive and their Westernised worldview as the gold standard. In doing so, he alienates the very masses, many of them deeply devout Hindus who once celebrated him as a cultural icon.
Sanatan Dharma: The Real Liberator
It is ironic, if not tragic, that Haasan labels Sanatan as a 'dictatorship." The essence of Sanatan Dharma lies in its pluralism, its acceptance of multiple paths to truth, and its emphasis on inner liberation.
Sanatan Dharma gave this land the Bhagavad Gita's call to Karma Yoga, the Upanishadic quest for Atman, and the Bhakti movement's rejection of priestly dominance. It inspired Adi Shankara's Advaita as well as Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita schools of thought that could not be more different and yet coexist harmoniously within the Hindu fold.
If anything, Sanatan is the antidote to the very dogmas Haasan accuses it of being.
Conclusion: Mask Off
Kamal Haasan is not simply calling for reform. He is weaponising education to further a political and ideological project aimed at demonising Hindu identity. In doing so, he does a grave disservice to the millions of Hindus across castes and communities who revere Sanatan Dharma not as a tool of oppression but as a source of inner and social liberation.
Let us be clear: this is not about freedom of speech or reformist critique. It is about deliberate, targeted, and consistent Hinduphobia. And it's time we called it out for what it is.
In a Hindu-majority country, disparaging Sanatan Dharma may earn Haasan applause from the anti-Hindu echo chambers. But it will also deepen the divide between elites who ridicule faith and the masses who live by it. Kamal Haasan may believe he is breaking chains, but in truth, he is forging new ones: of resentment, division, and cultural alienation.
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Sanatan Dharma doesn't need to be broken. It needs to be understood. And perhaps, that is what Kamal Haasan fears the most.
The writer is a technocrat, political analyst, and author. He pens national, geopolitical, and social issues. His social media handle is @prosenjitnth. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views.
About the Author
Prosenjit Nath
The writer is an Indian technocrat, political analyst, and author.
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Actor Kamal Haasan Sanatan Dharma
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First Published:
August 06, 2025, 17:06 IST
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