Fri Jul 04 20:29:41 UTC 2025: **Summary:**

A Bengaluru court has issued a temporary injunction against actor Kamal Haasan, preventing him from making statements that defame the Kannada language, culture, or claim linguistic superiority. This order stems from a lawsuit filed by the Kannada Sahithya Parishat (KSP) in response to Haasan’s April 24 statement claiming Kannada originated from Tamil. The KSP argues this statement is false, chauvinistic, and hurtful to Kannadigas. The court has directed KSP to publicize the lawsuit and has adjourned the hearing until August 30th. The KSP is also demanding Haasan retract his statement and issue an apology.

**News Article:**

**Bengaluru Court Gag Orders Kamal Haasan Over Kannada Language Remarks**

**Bengaluru, July 5, 2025** – A Bengaluru city civil court has issued a temporary injunction against actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam President Kamal Haasan, effectively gagging him from making further statements that could defame the Kannada language, literature, land, and culture. The order, issued on Friday (July 4, 2025), also prohibits Haasan from asserting any linguistic superiority over Kannada.

The move comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the Kannada Sahithya Parishat (KSP), a prominent literary organization, following controversial remarks made by Haasan on April 24 during the launch event for his upcoming movie, “Thug Life,” in Chennai. Haasan reportedly claimed that “Kannada is born out of Tamil.”

The KSP argues that this statement is factually incorrect, chauvinistic, and has caused immense pain and anguish to the people of Karnataka. While previous legal battles regarding the screening of “Thug Life” in Karnataka have been resolved by the Supreme Court, the KSP insists that Haasan’s allegedly defamatory statement continues to hurt the sentiments of Kannadigas.

“The reason that actor’s statement caused immense pain and anguish to people is because it is manifestly and objectively untrue and it has been made with a sense of chauvinism, superiority and arrogance….” the lawsuit contends.

The court has directed the KSP to publicize the lawsuit on behalf of Kannadigas. Haasan has been issued a notice, and a further hearing is scheduled for August 30th.

In addition to the injunction, the KSP is demanding that Haasan issue an unconditional apology to the people of Karnataka and retract his controversial statement. The organization emphasized that both Kannada and Tamil are sister languages and that Haasan has so far refused to apologize for his “false statement.” The case highlights the sensitivity surrounding language and cultural identity in South India.

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