Rajinikanth Says Delhi Riots Failure of Central Govt, Kamal Haasan Welcomes Remarks

New Delhi: After Tamil superstar Rajinikanth asserted that the violence in Delhi was the failure of the central government, his remarks were welcomed by Makkal Needhi Maiam president and fellow film artiste Kamal Haasan.

On Wednesday, Rajinikanth had stated that the main responsibility for the violence in Delhi, which have caused 38 deaths so far, is the central government.

“Definitely it is the central government’s intelligence failure. I strongly condemn the central government,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Riots broke out in large parts of north east Delhi from Sunday night and continued till Tuesday evening. These have been the biggest incidents of communal violence seen in Delhi since the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The violence flared even as US President Donald Trump was in Delhi for his maiden visit.

“Protests ought to have been contained with iron hand. Intelligence agencies didn’t do their job. Intelligence failure means it is the failure of the Home Ministry,” he said, as per media reports.

Rajinikanth also reiterated his earlier remarks on the Citizenship Amendment Act, which triggered protests across the country. “I will stand for anyone who would be affected by CAA,” he said

The Tamil superstar claimed that accusations that he was a mouthpiece for BJP was painful.

However, he did not criticise any BJP leaders whose speeches and remarks are largely supposed to have led to the violence. The Delhi high court on Wednesday had expressed surprise that Delhi Police had not taken cognisance of the hate speech of BJP leaders.

“Exceptions can’t be portrayed as the norm. I appeal to the media to be just and to not provoke,” he said, arguing that it was not correct to blame the entire government about those provocative remarks.

“Shabaash my friend Rajinikanth,” Kamal tweeted in Tamil. “This is the right path. Not a lonely path, but one along which the entire state walks. Welcome and Congrats”.

The reference to “right path” was a reference to a well-known dialogue of Rajinikanth, “En vazhi, thani vazhi (My path is a separate path)”.

Earlier this month, there were reports that Rajinikanth may finally be ready to launch his new political party in April, more than two years after he announced his intention to wade into politics. (Agencies)