On 10th July, Nagercoil Cyber Crime branch police arrested popular Tamil cinema stunt master Kanal Kannan over a social media post where a priest was seen dancing with a woman. Kannan, who is state president of the popular Hindu organization Hindu Munnani and leads its Art and Literature Wing, has worked with several leading stars of the industry, including Superstar Rajinikanth and Thalapathy Vijay.
Kannan published the social media post in question on 18th June. A case was registered against him on 1st July.
The video Kannan shared had a Tamil song in the background. In the caption that was written in Tamil, Kannan said, “This is the culture of the foreign religions”. Soon after the post was published, a man identified as Austin Bennett, who happens to be a member of DMK IT wing from the Thittuvilai area of Kanyakumari district, filed a complaint at the Nagercoil crime branch against Kannan. Based on his complaint, an FIR was filed under relevant sections against the stunt master.
In his complaint, Bennet claimed the video was manipulated. He further added that the tweet was published with an ulterior motive to tarnish the image of Christianity and trigger hatred between different faiths.
Police issued a summons to Kannan to appear before the police to participate in the inquiry. At around 10 AM on 10th July, Kannan went to the Nagercoil Cyber-crime branch police station. During questioning, Kannan asked if he could leave for lunch as he was diabetic but the police did not allow it. He was served food at the police station. His advocates argued he should be allowed to leave for lunch but police did not pay heed. Later, at around 7 PM, police arrested him and produced him before the district magistrate for judicial remand.
In a social media post, Hindu Munnai condemned the action against Kannan and said they would hold a protest on 11th July at 4 PM against the action taken by the state police.
Speaking to Republic, Hindu Munnani’s state spokesperson Elangovan said, “This is an entirely fabricated case. It was already a viral video that he posted. As an Indian citizen, do we not have the freedom of expression in this country? It’s an entirely motivated case that the DMK government has unleashed upon him.”
He added, “They have been doing the same to all parties and outfits with opposite ideologies. If DMK is so strict, we have given many complaints regarding temples, idols, etc. But they have taken no action upon any of these. Why is this kind of attitude only upon the Hindus in this state? We strictly condemn this arrest”.