Kamal draws flak for remarks on women empowerment, dignity

Chennai

On Sunday, the actor tweeted: “Dignity and equipoise are important to your protection and empowerment. With the above qualities, your self-defence can become non-violent. When non-violence meets violence, there is no combat; clearly, the criminal is exposed. Your confidence can do more damage than pepper spray.”

Haasan was responding to a video posted by Sneha Mohandoss, state secretary of his party’s Women’s Task Force and founder of FoodBank India. She posted a video displaying her skills with nunchaku and wrote that feeling confident in “your ability to protect yourself empowers you to live with less fear and more freedom.”

Several social media users have called out his sexist remarks. Lakshmi Ramachandran, general secretary of TNCC wrote in a tweet: “What are you saying, sir? I will do anything to save myself and loved ones from getting harmed by a criminal/murderer/rapist. Dignity my foot!”

On Haasan’s tweet, Shalin Maria Lawrence, writer and activist wrote, “Yesterday there was a video circulating in which Kamal Haasan had said ‘dignified women are not teased/raped’.Today he asks women to learn martial arts to protect themselves. In either case, he does not want to question men but places the burden on women,” she tweeted. However, Sneha Mohandoss defended Haasan’s tweet saying that confidence to attack when threatened is what has been hailed in his tweet. “It’s sad to see how people can’t read in between the lines and misunderstanding intelligence. I rather stand and face a criminal with confidence than pepper spray him and run away. The tweet clearly says that there is a difference between confidence and fear,” she responded to Haasan’s critics.