SABARIMALA-HAASAN

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan has squarely blamed the right-wing for "inciting" violence in Kerala after Hindu fringe groups ran riot in Kerala on Thursday over entry of two women into the Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala. They went on the rampage during the dawn-to-dusk 'Hartal' called by Sabarimala Karma Samithi, an umbrella organisation of pro-Hindutva groups, and the Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad, to protest the entry of two women of reproductive age into the hill shrine on Wednesday.

"Violence has been incited by the right wing," the veteran actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam chief told reporters at Chennai airport last night when asked about the issue. Asked about the suspension of 24 AIADMK MPs from the Lok Sabha for staging protests over the Cauvery issue, he merely said "good." On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statements on January 1 expressing openness for an alliance with him (Haasan) and 'superstar' Rajinikanth, he said "that is his stand." "But will we go...is something we have to decide. We will announce it at a meeting separately," he said.

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